Peace & Stability in Christ
Years ago, my wife, Jen, and I were facing some difficult relationship challenges. The tension was so great my chest hurt. At one point, it was bad enough that Jen asked if she needed to take me to the hospital.
We had never faced anything this upsetting before.
A few weeks into meeting with a therapist, our counselor placed his hands over his heart and said, ‘Your peace must be in here because of Christ.’ He then opened his arms and said, ‘Your peace cannot come from anything out here.’ We realized we were waiting on peace to arrive with a confession and restoration of relationship. But other people are outside of our control, as are most things in this world.
The past couple weeks and months have been tumultuous here in the United States—mostly stemming from events surrounded by the election of our 46th president. I’ve talked with Christians on both sides of the issue, and many have been upset or worried about what’s going on in our country no matter which position they have taken. Some are thankful for the change in administration. Some remain fearful about the future.
As Christians, how should we think about all of this?
Here are a few guiding principles from Scripture that can help us have peace and stability of mind even in the context of external circumstances beyond our control.
Internal peace comes from a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot count on personal peace coming from anyone or anything else.
God promises that we already have peace with Him through faith in Jesus (Romans 5:1). Peace of mind comes from loving God’s law (Psalm 119:165), practicing righteousness (Psalm 85:10) and from setting our minds on trusting God (Isaiah 26:3). Jesus himself told us that even though we will have trouble in this world, we can have peace in Him (John 16:33).
Dear Saints, are you looking for peace to come from a change in leadership or a change in your circumstances? Or are you looking to Christ alone for your peace?
There is an invisible, but very real, spiritual battle going on constantly.
The Lord makes this point crystal clear from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22. Jesus specifically said that there are people who do the devil’s will (John 8:44), and the Apostle Paul told us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against a very real spiritual enemy (Ephesians 6:10-20). The Apostle John told us that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).
So why are we surprised when there is a struggle? We should expect it. But we must not confuse the identity of the enemy. It’s not other people; it’s the devil.
As a Pastor, Jen and I led groups of couples Weekend to Remember events with Family Life Today. At one point in a seminar, the teacher said, ‘Turn to your spouse and say, “You are not my enemy.”’ We laughed, but also used that phrase during tense times! It reminded us that we were not really fighting each other. We were together, fighting for our marriage and family, against a real enemy who wants to divide and conquer.
Dear Saints, don’t confuse the identity of the enemy. And keep in mind that Jesus is soon returning as the conquering King!
Our confidence is in our Sovereign God, not the comfort of our circumstances. (Psalm 71:5)
God alone is Sovereign. This means He is the Ruler over all the universe. We can be confident that He has not lost control, gotten distracted, or been overthrown by some plot against Him. In fact, God’s word says that He puts whoever He wants into positions of power and authority (Daniel 2:21, Romans 13:1). As Dr. Jeffress from Dallas says, “Even though the occupant of the Oval Office has changed, the King on the Throne of Heaven has not changed.”
But too often people, Christians included, judge the character of God based upon a limited perception of their circumstances.
The problem is that if you don’t trust someone’s character you cannot have confidence in them. By definition, confidence means “to have faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way based upon a relationship built on trust and intimacy.”
Has your confidence in God been shaken by this election? Or, for that matter, by any circumstance in our world this past year? If so, then I encourage you to look at what you truly believe about God’s character.
Dear Saints, we must not make the mistake of judging God’s character based upon our circumstances, especially given our very limited perspective. We are to judge our circumstances in light of God’s revealed character. Then, our confidence in the Lord will be unshakeable.
Are you reacting to the times in which we live and finding it hard to experience peace? Or, do you recognize that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle but that we have a good, loving Sovereign God who will not forsake His people. From that perspective, each one of us can have peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).