ICS Daily Devotions
Have the Peace of God
Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV) Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
All of us want to live close to God. He has created us and saved us, transferred us from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. We can never thank Him enough. And indeed, we want to thank Him and live closely in His presence, just as Adam did in Paradise. But so many times we are struck by our sinful nature and God feels so distant. We feel like if God does not hear our voice. And that feeling steals our peace.
The problem is that maintaining the peace on inside is crucial for our spiritual prosperity and helps us to avoid destruction. The peace gives us time to think and hear proper instructions from God. It enables us to overcome the waves of problems in our lives, as we can face them standing strong in the peace of God.
There was a huge tsunami coming to the shores of Thailand some years ago. There were fishing boats on the sea, and suddenly, the fishermen noticed the wave on the horizon. As the shore was nearby, they panicked and tried to get to the dry land as soon as possible. But it was too late. They knew it was too late but acted mechanically in distress and eventually the wave swiped them away. But there was one fisherman who did not follow the pattern. He paused and realized that it was too late to get to the shore. He evaluated that he had a better chance of surviving if he did exactly the opposite. He turned his boat against the wave! He did it in time before the wave got bigger and bigger as it was about to hit the shore. The wave lifted him up but instead of drowning him, it left him behind. He passed it and survived. The plan worked thanks to his calm spirit and ability not to get overwhelmed by panic!
This is a good illustration how important it is for us Christians to maintain peace with God under all circumstances. Because if we lose the peace with our Creator and Savior, we lose everything. We tend to panic and act out of distress. We search irrational solutions to our problems because we lost the peace. We do not pause to seek God for solution but try recklessly to solve it on our own as quickly as possible so we can move on to other things in our lives.
Sometimes, we agree to get reconciled with God only after we solve the issue from our own strength. But doing this often, we will never find peace. The feeling is not spiritually rewarding. We may miss God’s solution or His timing. It is God who is our strength and we can approach Him with all our problems. Christ has sacrificed himself to enable us to live a victorious life in God. Do not let the devil to steal your peace with God! We have been justified by the blood of Jesus and we can live it out despite hostile circumstances in our lives. Let us rejoice and relax in God who is our Rock and Shield.
Sermon series: Having the Peace of God (1)
