Hope In The Midst of the Storm
So I know you’re not going to believe me but today is exactly one month since the CA governor officially declared the stay at home order. I know you think I’ve got to be wrong. Go ahead and Google it. I’ll wait. Yep. One month. I didn’t believe it either because April has literally had about 52 days in it, right? Seriously it feels like we’re coming up on month #2.
Perspective is a powerful thing. I realized this when 3 weeks into this, I finally found toilet paper in Costco and nearly cried. Like seriously, cried. All my other achievements went out the window that day. Everything paled in comparison on that day!
But if we go by our feelings, our perspective will be skewed and we will discover that we are often wrong about the reality of your situation.
So I want to give you some truths that I pray will help you navigate this challenging season.
The first truth is this:
1. As a believer, peace is your inheritance
Jesus says in John 14:27 “I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!”
Whether you’re a believer or not, peace is vital and will determine the quality of life we live in this world.
So often we believe that more money, more friends, more monetary things would bring us happiness and translate into peace in this chaotic world. But the truth is more stuff can never bring us true peace.
Matthew Henry, a great theologian said “When Christ died, He left a will and in it He gave His disciples, who had left everything to follow Him, not a sliver of gold or silver but something far better—His peace.”
When Jesus left this earth after being resurrected from the grave, it wasn’t money or physical possessions that He left for us. It was peace but not just any peace; HIS peace. Because He knew that it was what we would need more than anything else as we live out our lives here on earth. It is our inheritance from Jesus and because of that truth, we have access to it anytime we need it. It is ours. We don’t have to work for it. We don’t have to beg Him for it. It already belongs to us. It will never run out. It will never be withheld because of our mistakes. But we have to access it. We have to live in it by not allowing the chaos around us to take our eyes off of Him. And that brings us to the second truth.
2. We have to guard our hearts.
Our heart functions best when we are at peace. And even though we have an inheritance of peace, it can only operate in our lives if we keep our hearts guarded. We have to learn how to filter the information going into our eyes and our ears because what we meditate on will eventually affect our peace. We have to stay connected to God’s word and not let the storms that rage around us dictate our inner peace.
The same way that as parents, we guard our kids from potentially harmful and dangerous media, we have to guard our hearts as well.
If my young granddaughters come across something scary on TV or in a movie, we all know that there is a sleepless night coming. You might as well go to bed early. The same is true for us. I have had to tell myself to turn off the TV, the daily news coverage and get into my Bible more than ever before.
We can’t feed ourselves fear and then pray for more faith.
We see that reminder in Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
The 3rd truth is
3. Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ.
That is a quote from the author Sheila Walsh and it is a powerful weapon that we should have in our arsenal. Even in the midst of trouble, we can find peace. What we need is found in knowing Jesus as our Savior and trusting that He has us no matter what is going on around us.
The closer we get to Jesus, the more we can access all that we need. It doesn’t mean we won’t face adversity. In fact, Jesus told us that the opposite would be true. He told His disciples that they would face troubles but they didn’t need to worry because He had already defeated them.
I was reminded of a really dark time in my life a few years ago when I was in unchartered waters, so to speak. I was scared, I felt alone and no matter how much I pushed and pulled to get out of the situation, things just got worse and worse. One day, in a flood of tears, I told God that I couldn’t go on like this any longer and I didn’t know where to go or what to do. In that desperate moment, I finally stopped relying on my own strength and surrendered to my Father. I heard Him as clear as day whisper to my soul, “Mary, you have never been down this way before---but I have. I have gone before you to make a way.” It was not only what He said but where He said it. During this time I had to meet with a very unpleasant professional and the street that led to that office was broken up and full of potholes. Paralyzing fear would grip me every time I turned down that street because it reminded me of my own brokenness. And it was on that terrible street that He spoke those words to me. He had already been down this road of uncertainty and made a way.
It was truly the turning point for me and I watched as little by little, day-by-day, He did just that. I realized that He loved me so much that He made sure I knew that day that I was not alone. And He was true to His word. He made a way. Nothing should’ve turned out as well as it did but He did it. Beyond human explanation, He did it. And that experience has changed forever the way I face adversity.
As all the news reports started coming in about COVID19, its impact on family and friends in New Orleans and Utila, as well as here, coming to the realization that it may be many months before I can go and hug my mom and dad, my family and friends and in our church; as I read the headlines and interviews and listened to the opinions of news casters of impending doom, that faith started to erode. Now I like to informed but what I realized is that it was just too much. My mind was overwhelmed and my faith was slipping.
That’s when I knew that I needed to go back to the source of my peace, that peace that belongs to me. I needed to start listening again to the One who has never let me down and thankfully, I was able to find my footing again. I have the faith to believe that the same God who walked me through the impossible years ago, will see me through this situation as well. The knowledge of His faithfulness in past times of trouble, gives me the strength for this trial and what I learn during 2020 will be the faith that I take with me into the next trial. Our peace multiplies when we grow in our understanding of who Jesus is!
My prayer this year is that my life will be an example for those around me to see His glory but that can only happen when I surrender fully to Him.
I tend to gravitate towards the Psalms when I need to find calm in my life and was reminded of this beautiful but odd verse recently. Listen to Psalm 56:8 King David says
You have recorded my troubles. You have kept a list of my tears. Aren’t they in your records?
Another translation says God has collected our tears in a bottle…
Author Ann Voskamp says “what kind of wild love drives God to record every one of His children’s tears and hurts. He can’t stand to see a tear fall to the floor. God cups our grief and puts our tears in a bottle. If it’s love that makes God a list-keeper of our brokenness, then it’s love that can make us a list-keeper of our blessings.”
4. Gratitude Can Change our Perspective
Ann goes on to say that gratitude isn’t only a celebration when good things happen. Gratitude is a declaration that God is good no matter what happens!
Let’s be real. It’s just you and I here so no one else can hear this. Gratitude doesn’t always come easily to us, does it? Sure, when we get that promotion, when a troubling situation works out better than we expected, when that stimulus check hits our bank account.
Yeah, it’s not hard to be grateful when all is going well. But it’s so easy to become ungrateful in trying times. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the “not yets” and “what ifs” and “why not me?”
Here’s what Paul tell us In Philippians 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I love that Paul reminds us that we can tell God every detail of our lives, which is interesting because we understand that God knows everything and knows our thoughts before we even think them so why bother telling Him? It’s the relationship, the communion that He desires.
Now petition isn’t a word you hear much unless you love courtroom drama shows. In those we hear that term often. Someone, usually a lawyer, comes into a courtroom where the judge is in authority and petitions the court. And that simply means they are asking the court to hear a case.
When we go to God, our highest authority, and bring our prayers and petitions, we are simply asking Him to hear our case; hear our hearts. Paul challenges us to do that with thanksgiving. How do we do that, exactly? For me it’s being reminded that He has brought me through those past challenges and never let me down so I can boldly go to Him, thanking Him for all that He has done for me, and then spending that time with him in prayer and conversation. Does God want this so He can hear over and over again how good He is for His own sake? Never. It’s for ours. When we remember His goodness and mercy, we can be thankful even when facing the hardest of challenges.
So do this. Turn off the news for awhile and put some worship music on. Fill your mind with grateful praise for Who He is. Don’t let the noise of this world drown out God’s gentle whispers to come near to Him. And the Word promises that as we do these things, the God of peace will be with you always. Not just during the good times. Always. Not only when everything is going smoothly. Always.
As believers, we can daily gather our strength, our peace from our Father so that we can show strength and peace to those around us, especially those who don’t know Him personally. One of the greatest ways to defeat fear in our own lives is by putting the needs of others before our own. I read several FB posts over the last few weeks from women I deeply care about that were really struggling with fear and isolation and it instantly got me out of my own selfish mindset and got me praying for them and asking God for ways to be a blessing and encouragement to them.
So our challenge this week is this:
If your life is moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts, then ask yourself “do I like the direction my thoughts are taking me?”
You see, because you’re a believer you are not a hostage to your unhealthy thoughts. The Bible says that we can live differently by letting God completely change the way you think. We don’t have to find a way to change our thought patterns on our own.
You are also not a slave to your habits. You are not a prisoner to an addiction. As a believer, you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God’s light.
Go to the source of your peace; gather His strength; find ways to be grateful and look around you and find opportunities to be hands and feet of Jesus!
