So often we find ourselves overwhelmed, tired, and in pain. We ask how we got there and how God can get us out of it. It’s a hard road, to live in a mortal life built with sin. When we call out to God and ask Him for help, His love is great, and His forgiveness is everlasting. There is no shortage of grace needed for the whole world or needed for your world, yet we struggle to have peace in our spirit.
Why is it that we hesitate to call on Him, not just for the help to get past an obstacle, but for His help to calm our spirit? We read in the Bible many times that people grew weary from the troubles they found themselves in. Some troubles were made from their own lack of faith in God. Some troubles were made because they had so much faith in God their calling met trouble from the adversary.
The moral of the story is this – life will be hard, life will be trying and unfair. But our victory is not in the peace of our physical body, but in the peace of our Lord. When the rising tides come, when the levees break and the waters flow everywhere, our peace will be in Him.
There is a great depiction in the Bible of this peace. It is about Jesus and His disciples, in a boat, on the sea (Matthew 8, Mark 4, Luke 8). Jesus is able to sleep; He needed to sleep. His human body was worn down from ministry as He poured out to the people in need. His work was great and it was long. The exhaustion overwhelmed His humanity.
A storm came and brought fear to even those who knew how best to navigate harsh waters. When those who are more than able to navigate difficult seas become scared, it is not a time to sleep, unless you have peace that surpasses all understanding. The disciples looked at Jesus, and told Him to wake up. They informed Him that everyone was going to die. They didn’t use language that said only the disciples would die. They used language that let Jesus know that He was going to die as well, in this boat and on this water. In that moment, He stood up and let nature know that He was God.
We can be overwhelmed, tired, and in pain. There will be rising tides and floodwaters. However, peace through it all is why God sent His son, Jesus Christ. He modeled peace for us on His way to the greatest call and ministry the world has ever known. Jesus led a life of peace, knowing that in the end His body would be broken. God knows that, in our fragile state, we have a call. He knows that throughout our lives, peace that surpasses all understanding is our inheritance, just as it was for Christ (Phil 4:7).
Hold strong in peace when the world breaks us down and when it produces chaos. Have the knowledge that the reason we can stand in faith and stand in peace through all hardship is because we can look into the eyes of this dying world, and say, “My God Is Bigger Than You!”.
Rene Solis is Director of Koinonia School of Ministry, a ministry of Koinonia Church in Hanford, CA. He can be reached at ksm@kchanford.com or by calling 559-582-1528.