Rejoice

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence,” John 14:27-31, KJV.

God gives us peace. He gives the peace that surpasses all understanding. God offers the peace that has you praising Him even though you may be weathering a storm; the peace not as the world gives, but as He gives.

The world, our temporary place of residence, has the tendency to offer a false sense of security. Security that flees at a moment’s notice. The world extends the peace of a momentary fix. For example, one may have a mortgage payment due at the end of the week and they present you with an extension, but at the cost of a fee. You take it, but you still don’t have peace about the situation. You’ve sought out avenues in which to get this bill paid to no avail. Then someone pays it for you. You praise God. But then at the end of the next month, the same thing seems to be occurring. Your money is short and there again you put your hope in a person or the mortgage company to lend you a helping hand. Looking for a ray of hope that offers once again you could just pay a small fee and be done with it until you get paid on next week. But this time they tell you no. They explain to you that it was a one time deal last month and it is no longer offered to you.

During the month, you paid other bills…even went shopping because you trusted in that cushion you thought you had. Your trust was placed in that company, not God. Your peace rested outside of the Lord. It was in the world. See, when you have peace in the Lord you approach each situation with prayer, knowing that God is fully able to answer them. He is sovereign so that doesn’t mean that He has to give you everything that you ask for, but what it does mean is that He will take care of your needs. If something is taken away or not extended to me, that’s an indication that I may not need it. In putting my full trust in the Lord, I know that He provides. It may not be as I think it should come, but it comes and it is not up to us to decide how God is to answer our prayers.

So, that peace Jesus spoke of encourages me; especially when depression, uncertainty, and discouragement may loom. It helped me to understand that (depression, uncertainty, and discouragement) is exactly what the world offers.