I don’t think we need to build a case and convince people that we are living in chaotic times. A few minutes watching the nightly news tells the story. The world is in crisis! Yes, there are some good things going on. But the challenges and the threats are very real and common!
Yet in the midst of all the turmoil, you and I can have peace! Peace of mind and security for our soul is available to all who follow Christ if we choose to live in His kingdom rather than in the world. Because of Jesus, we live by a different set of standards and a different set of rules. Here’s how Jesus explains it:
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27
The peace of God is already available. It’s waiting for us to take it . . . to receive it. Our part is to believe and then take action! What do we do to take action? We position ourselves under the direction of God’s Holy Spirit and then do whatever He tells us or directs us to do! It’s that easy and it’s that simple.
God’s Word is the first way we find how to follow in the way of the Lord. As you mature in faith, you will get to the point that you believe because it’s in His Word. That’s a good place to be! You’re not like Thomas, having to “wait and see” so you can believe. No, instead you have such a deep trust in God and who He says He is that you believe whatever He says! Again, easy and simple.
How do you develop a deep faith like that? He shows us in the Bible:
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
You spend time reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word. You read books by solid, Bible-based authors. You listen to teachings by trusted, Christ-centered teachers. And whenever you have doubt, you go to God and ask Him to help you gain understanding so you can move from doubt to faith.
An ongoing problem I hear about from so many Christian women and men is that they are just too busy to study. Too busy to pray. Too busy to spend time with God.
If you’ve felt that way, let me ask you a challenging question . . .
If you had an opportunity to spend 15 minutes each morning with Bill Gates, of Microsoft and the richest man in the world, would you be too busy for him? Or would you find a way?
My guess, is that you would do whatever you needed to do to make sure you could be fully present and alert to meet with Bill Gates. You’d be on time. Your ears would be open and you would hang on every word he spoke to you. I would, too. Just think of all we could learn from him!
You get where I’m going with this.
I know you get it because we both are fully aware that Bill Gates has nothing on God! Our Lord is so far more superior, richer, wiser, and more loving than Bill Gates! Even Gates would agree with that!
The likelihood of having a daily meeting with Bill Gates is greatly remote! Yet, God promises to be with us whenever we call on Him. He says He will hear our prayers. He says that whatever we ask in the name of Jesus and believe we receive it, that we can have it. He says He will never leave us and that He will reward us when we diligently seek Him.
We have free access to the Creator or everything, yet we choose to let the things of the world take up so much of our time that we don’t have the time or energy to meet for even 15 minutes each morning with our Lord.
Okay, one more bitter morsel of truth: So often we go about our busy times and get all caught up in the activities we’ve chosen for ourselves. And then something happens. We hit a rough spot. And that’s when we wonder why God would allow such a thing to happen. Afterall, we’re His children. He love us. He care for us.
The Word of God says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.
We also learn a powerful truth in James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
God will do His part, if we do ours. That’s the way He set up the system. He has set before us life and death! And then He tells us to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). How do we choose life? By living under the authority of our Lord, learning from Him, and then doing whatever He tells us to do!
The choice is ours. God already made His choice. He chose you to be His child. He chose to love you. He chose to give His Son up so He could be in one-on-one relationship with you.
What do you choose? And will you make sure you can meet with Him each day so He can teach you, love you, and care for you? The choice is yours.