There is no doubt that a war is going on inside each of us between our sin nature and our desire to please God and live holy. The Apostle Paul described it best when he said in Romans 7:22-23 that he loved God’s law with all of his heart, but that there was another power within him that was at war with his mind. He then went on to say in Romans 7:25(NLT), “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Galatians 4:4,5(NLT) echoes this truth and also tells us, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” The victory we have over sin and strife is then summed up beautifully in Romans 5:1(NLT) where it says, “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. When we look at these verses, we have no other choice but to conclude that Jesus Christ is our hero in every sense of the word. He rescued us from sin and death and delivered us into God’s glorious light! So after knowing everything that God has done through Christ to buy us back from the depths of darkness and despair, why is it still so hard for us to keep the peace of God flowing in our lives?
Get over the wrong belief that God punishes To examine a few of the possible answers to this question, we must take a look at some of the beliefs each of us holds with greater scrutiny. A wrong belief can prove to be quite the strong hold. It is particularly a beast when you are holding on to the belief that Heavenly Father is a God that punishes His kids. This belief is insidious and will cause so much damage to our lives. With many of us it goes back to years and years of wrong teaching that we’ve received from those that might have meant well, but were not well taught themselves. For some, demolishing this error in our believing that Heavenly Father is a God that punishes can be one of the most challenging beliefs to eradicate. I think the reason for this is the fact that so many of us are getting pummeled with circumstances that are complex and challenging beyond anything we’ve ever known. We’re baffled by the darts that continue to be hurled at us, and some that are in the faith find themselves questioning whether or not they can take it anymore.
We’re inquisitive creatures, so when we take a hit to the gut, human nature prompts us to try and make sense of it. We want to know why, when we are trying to be the best person that we can be, that we can’t seem to derive any peace in our lives. But our desire to make sense of things is supremely frustrated by trying to believe that the God that offers us peace is the same God that caused us to be without it. You can see clearly the kind of ambiguity and doubt this causes.
Punishment is payback for wrong actions and decisions. A good parent lovingly chastises and guides their children into correction, so that they have greater intelligence and acumen to choose better going forward. This is what our Heavenly Father does with us. He doesn’t want us to keep making the same mistakes, but He does want us to recognize that there are costly consequences to making choices that cause us to move further away from His love.
He doesn’t slap our hands every time we do something wrong. He has designed a perfect system, and it works flawlessly. God’s laws are immutable, they have not changed, neither will they change. He designed the universe in such a way that it responds to what we give it. So if your actions, attitudes, and behaviors go against the grain of God’s love, the universe will respond in alignment to what you’ve put out there. In simpler terms, if we do the crime, we’re going to do the time.
So yes, life can send some of the most challenging situations that we can imagine, but whatever we face, God will bring us out of it and cause us to triumph in spite of any wrong that we’ve done. He does not punish, and nothing will rob you of His peace more than holding the wrong belief that He does. So as we mature in Christ, we should understand that God teaches, and not punishes us, through the consequences we all must face at one time or another. We can have peace as He helps us to learn and make better choices, so that we can continue growing and going higher in Him.
Reroute your definition of Peace Most of us have a definition of peace that chiefly involves the status of our external environments and conditions. When things are okay, we tend to be in a peaceful state, but when our outside circumstances are chaotic, we allow our internal state to follow suite. God tells us throughout His Word that our stand upon His strength and power should be impenetrable. Nothing should cause us to lose faith in God because He will never leave us or forsake us.
In our heads we know this, but sometimes in our hearts there’s a different story playing out. We allow the peace of God to slip away from us because, again, the enemy will throw darts that cause our faith to be shaken in certain areas. When this happens, you and I have to grapple with the reality that a greater depth of spiritual strength is needed on our parts. We are not as strong in some places of our Christian walk as we are in others. This is something each of us has to face.
It’s no secret that sometimes we will run head-on with situations that far exceed our capability to handle them, but it’s not a time to flake out, place ourselves in self-condemnation, or to stress and strain about what we should have done and didn’t do. It’s a time to acknowledge that we need God’s peace, and that God’s definition of peace is much greater than you and I could ever fathom.
Philippians 4:6,7 admonishes us to keep a level head amidst pressure, and to pray as specifically as we can about whatever the situation at hand may be; it tells us to thank God for the resolution, liberty, and deliverance that He is sure to bring to pass. When we do this, verse 7 affirms that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Many of us will cling to this verse, and we will use it to endeavor to force ourselves to have faith. This doesn’t make sense when we consider that the situation we’re facing is probably a direct result of a lack of faith in the first place. We don’t have to try and force an activation of faith. It comes pretty effortlessly when we usher in the peace of God.
God tells us in 2Corinthians 12:9 (NLT) “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” God’s peace surpasses ALL understanding. It is a spiritual reality that exceeds our capability to understand it. It comes from Him, and you and I have no more to do than ask to receive it. God wants to do something awesome not just in our situations, but in our souls, because that is the place where the real work needs to be done. We shouldn’t try to limit what God can and will do with our minuscule understanding, because it is impossible to squeeze His greatness and His great love for us into the small boxes we’ve set aside. We need to invite His peace in, and also invite Him to do what is necessary in our souls to bring us to a place of rest.
You and I do not have the answers. We couldn’t possibly know all the ins and outs of the situations we face; but God knows. We can’t fix it, but He can, and it’s the humility of honoring Him and His sovereignty, and the faith of knowing that He’ll come to our aid that paves the way for His peace to continually rest within us. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Regaining Peace In Your Life” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2016. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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