Peace?

I don’t struggle to understand the teaching of peace WITH God.

Peace with God comes only through Jesus Christ by placing my faith and trust in Him alone for Salvation.

But lately, I’ve found the peace OF God to be elusive.

Not in theory. I can teach it easily and have many times.

The peace of God is a fruit (outcome; result) of the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life. The Holy Spirit took up residence in my life at Salvation, and dependence upon Him yields the fruit of peace.

As I walk by faith and depend upon Christ, I experience God's peace in my daily life.

And I try…(TRY…A word that would make the teacher in me say, “It’s not your efforts but dependence upon Christ’s work.”)

Sorry, that’s a look into the head of someone who knows the Bible answers but also experiences Christian weaknesses.

Knowing what I’ve laid out already–how do you maintain the peace of God with outside factors?

That’s like saying, how do you keep a new car clean when you have kids? And mud puddles in your driveway? And birds that fly over and drop white bombs on your windshield?

How do you maintain the peace of God when the people with whom you must interact seem content to make your life miserable? When you're doing all you can, but it’s still not enough.

If I could sit alone in a room with books and the internet, maybe I could find peace–but that’s not life. A storm would probably blow through anyways, cutting the electricity to the room and knocking a tree in on the roof, letting in squirrels infected by rabies. (Okay, I got a bit extreme there.)

My point is…

Kids have needs.

Bills must be paid.

Emergencies happen.

Jerks exist

Faith must be tested to grow. Just as the legs of one in a wheelchair grow thin and weak without the daily exercise of walking, faith that isn’t exercised or tested grows weak.

But can a faith be overexercised? How many tests must one face? To ask those questions reveals part of the problem.

Trust or lack thereof.

Great faith isn’t measured by yardsticks; it’s measured in endurance, and many Christians lack endurance.

It’s easier to blame God and walk away than endure the storm, especially a storm we didn’t see coming, or that seems never to let up.

That’s why I say peace feels elusive at times, and right now, it feels like one of those times.

I’m writing this as a reminder to myself and maybe as a help to you.

• Continue to walk by faith and in total dependence on Christ.
• Endure even when you don’t want to.
• Trust that God’s sovereign hand is growing your faith in this storm.
• Remember God hasn’t forsaken you.

I don’t know how long the storm will last or if it will ever let up. Rest as we’d like might not come on this side of heaven, but this verse reminds me that the storm hasn’t gone unnoticed by God.

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” (James 1:12)