Last Little Bit of Peace

Hi there. I haven't abandoned y'all this week. It's just been a rather hectic week, plus I'm having computer issues. I tried to upload pictures and/or a video for almost the entire day yesterday. After that, I could use a little peace myself.

This is our last week talking about peace. I'm not quite sure what we'll do next. Last week we ended by talking about our needs being met vs. God saying in Philippians that He'll meet all our needs.

Often times we're too busy stuffing the emptiness we feel full of the wrong things to give Him the room or the time to give us what we need. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Isaiah 30:18 also tells us, "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait on Him!"

We don't want to wait on Him. We want what we want and we want it now! Stomp, stomp, stomp and a great big pout. Why? Why do we have to have such immediate gratification? Are we afraid He won't give us our fair share if we don't hurry up and take it? Are we afraid He's senile and will forget us? Are we afraid He doesn't really care at all?

It could be any of those we fear. It could be all of those that eat at us and cause us to doubt and rob us of peace. We must hold onto truth instead. Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

We should not be anxious. What we should do is let Him know our troubles, for they surely come, but do so in a manner of praise, knowing He has the power to accomplish the job and the love that spurs Him to do it. When we're willing to do that, the peace that he supplies is beyond all understanding. We'll find that when we take our focus off "me, me, me" that He is actually better suited for the job of handling me than we are.

We focus on what we lack in material things or appearance or in personality. He sees what is best in us. He sees all the great things He created us to be. He sees all we are capable of being, all the possibilities that lay before us, and most importantly for believers, He sees His Son.

"'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart,'" Jeremiah 29:11-13.

It says 'search for me', as in God, not me the person. We don't need some self-help book or to go off in search of some inspirational guru to 'find ourselves'. We have all the help we need in one book and God knows right where we are.

Remember Isaiah 30:18? He longs to be gracious to you. He waits on high to have compassion on you. Long for Him and you will be blessed. This verse speaks to us beautifully of just how much God loves us and wants to provide for us, to bless us. He longs to bless us with His grace and compassion. The blessings flow when we long after Him as well.

We're going to close by reading I Thessalonians 5:23-24 one more time. May it be our prayer this week for ourselves and for each other. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."