STANDING IN HIS PEACE

In addition to the above title verse, an especially favorite Scripture of mine (and yours, too, I’m sure) is Colossians 3:15. Christ Jesus calls His own to peace. How can we walk in His peace, though, if we, however subconsciously, permit daily cares to loom larger in our minds than His promised peace? Praise God, people; we can’t even mess up what He has promised! The Eternal God does NOT lie, says Numbers 23:19! We may make our plans, but guess what? “…the Lord DIRECTS [our] steps,” according to Proverbs 16:9. I don’t know about you, friend, but that is a very comforting principle to me.

These things being true, practicing stillness before our Lord God is an indispensable privilege through which He promotes His own divine peace, fosters a yieldedness to His unique purposes for us, and rewards us with an increased desire to draw even CLOSER to Him because of who He is and all that He freely offers those who love Him. (John 14:27; Jeremiah 29:11-13)
As a longtime writer of personal journals, I can glance back sometimes and view life seasons wherein I have accumulated a track record of placing greater “faith” in the ability of cares, problems, or other unsettling circumstances, to loom larger than my Lord’s promises! (Can you identify?) From before the foundation of this world, our God knows about every large and small situation His blood-purchased children face, every potentially (and actually) wearying situation to which we may be or have been, or SHALL be exposed! (Ps. 139:16; Is. 40:28) Given our God’s infinite knowledge of all that concerns us, why should we ever unwittingly CHOOSE to continue FAILING to trust in Him with all our heart, choosing instead to lean upon our OWN understanding, failing to “…recognize and acknowledge Him?” (Prov. 3:5,6 AMP). He promises His people that He will direct and make straight and plain [our] paths.”  In the lyrics of that classic Jaci Velasquez song, as we enter this new year of our Lord—2023—let us “take Him at His word and see what He can do!”

Prayer: Father, we praise and bless Your name for Christ’s gift of His purchased salvation, which, if we believe and receive His gospel, grants us both peace WITH You and the peace OF You—a peace this old world can never provide, regardless of our life station. AMEN!
By Denise Diggs