Weekly Thing
John 14:26,27
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Hebrews 4:9-11
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their [the Israelites] example of disobedience.
Psalm 29:11
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Hello everyone!
Wow. It certainly has been a long time since I wrote a Weekly Thing! I hope that you all have been doing well and that the Lord has been teaching and bringing each of you closer to Himself. My sincerest apologies for my time of silence, as it were; I had some computer issues for a while and then I’d gotten wrapped up in busyness. But now, I am able to write finally! As you could probably imagine, the Lord has been teaching me a lot over the past month and a half … about compassion, love, patience, trust, peace, and perseverance… and a lot more. So where do I begin? What can be written to surmise all the things I’d been learning about?
Well. I’m not sure where to start simply because there is SO much. Isn’t that the way it always is, though? God is constantly giving learning opportunities to us and it’s just a matter of seeing them. Which is amazing in and of itself… And although I could write about God’s grace - a topic that could never be exhausted - I think instead His peace can be the focus.
When Jesus talks about peace and how the peace of God will be with us, I don’t think He means that everything is always going to be rays and sunshine. That is, I don’t think He was promising that we would be happy all the time. Happiness is an emotional state that we experience on and off… But I think that peace - like joy - is a state of being that is settled in the depths of our soul. That although things are hectic on the outside and perhaps very high-strung, deep down we know that everything will be okay. That God is going to take care of what is going on outside of us and within us; that we are settled in knowing that God is continually providing even when we are lacking.
Peace is a tough thing to nail down, and I for one don’t always focus on the fact that I can be at rest knowing that God is in control of my life. No; I want to be the one in control, I want to be the one who calls the shots and tries to make sure that everything around me is secure… and that’s when I lose peace (and sometimes even sleep!). I end up asking questions like, “Well what about this? When will that happen? When is God going to provide here? How will I know?” and so on and so forth. Looks a lot like impatience, too, and how dreadful those times really end up being! What I thought would give me peace by my own making, really ends up being the very thing that stresses me out and makes me worry. The whole time God is saying, “Stop freaking out and just trust me, okay?”
Okay. So maybe He’s not saying it quite like that, but you get the idea.
God’s peace is there for us ready to be put on like a permanent coating. It is ours; not because of the things that we do of course, but because Christ died and because He promised that the Holy Spirit would dwell within us. He - the Holy Spirit - is constantly working in our hearts to change us and equip us with the tools we need, when we need to do anything. Because of God’s work, we can rest. Because God holds the future in His hands and knows we can only handle so much at once, we can trust that what is in the horizon is taken care of.
I pray that each of us can really take on this peace God offers, and hold it close to our hearts… and perhaps not only hold it close to our hearts, but cherish it as a part of us. I pray that the Spirit would continually teach us what it means to be at peace with ourselves and the world around us; not in a way that is “flowery” but in a way that is deep and true and raw…. That acknowledges hurts, but also gives us the understanding that things will be mended. I pray that we would also learn to be patient, trusting the Lord in all things and in all times.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Hebrews 4:9-11
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their [the Israelites] example of disobedience.
Psalm 29:11
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Hello everyone!
Wow. It certainly has been a long time since I wrote a Weekly Thing! I hope that you all have been doing well and that the Lord has been teaching and bringing each of you closer to Himself. My sincerest apologies for my time of silence, as it were; I had some computer issues for a while and then I’d gotten wrapped up in busyness. But now, I am able to write finally! As you could probably imagine, the Lord has been teaching me a lot over the past month and a half … about compassion, love, patience, trust, peace, and perseverance… and a lot more. So where do I begin? What can be written to surmise all the things I’d been learning about?
Well. I’m not sure where to start simply because there is SO much. Isn’t that the way it always is, though? God is constantly giving learning opportunities to us and it’s just a matter of seeing them. Which is amazing in and of itself… And although I could write about God’s grace - a topic that could never be exhausted - I think instead His peace can be the focus.
When Jesus talks about peace and how the peace of God will be with us, I don’t think He means that everything is always going to be rays and sunshine. That is, I don’t think He was promising that we would be happy all the time. Happiness is an emotional state that we experience on and off… But I think that peace - like joy - is a state of being that is settled in the depths of our soul. That although things are hectic on the outside and perhaps very high-strung, deep down we know that everything will be okay. That God is going to take care of what is going on outside of us and within us; that we are settled in knowing that God is continually providing even when we are lacking.
Peace is a tough thing to nail down, and I for one don’t always focus on the fact that I can be at rest knowing that God is in control of my life. No; I want to be the one in control, I want to be the one who calls the shots and tries to make sure that everything around me is secure… and that’s when I lose peace (and sometimes even sleep!). I end up asking questions like, “Well what about this? When will that happen? When is God going to provide here? How will I know?” and so on and so forth. Looks a lot like impatience, too, and how dreadful those times really end up being! What I thought would give me peace by my own making, really ends up being the very thing that stresses me out and makes me worry. The whole time God is saying, “Stop freaking out and just trust me, okay?”
Okay. So maybe He’s not saying it quite like that, but you get the idea.
God’s peace is there for us ready to be put on like a permanent coating. It is ours; not because of the things that we do of course, but because Christ died and because He promised that the Holy Spirit would dwell within us. He - the Holy Spirit - is constantly working in our hearts to change us and equip us with the tools we need, when we need to do anything. Because of God’s work, we can rest. Because God holds the future in His hands and knows we can only handle so much at once, we can trust that what is in the horizon is taken care of.
I pray that each of us can really take on this peace God offers, and hold it close to our hearts… and perhaps not only hold it close to our hearts, but cherish it as a part of us. I pray that the Spirit would continually teach us what it means to be at peace with ourselves and the world around us; not in a way that is “flowery” but in a way that is deep and true and raw…. That acknowledges hurts, but also gives us the understanding that things will be mended. I pray that we would also learn to be patient, trusting the Lord in all things and in all times.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne