“Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27-Amplified Bible
A few weeks ago I was stomped by the first part of the above verse, but now, it’s the second part of the same verse that has my mind going a mile an hour. I actually found it odd that Jesus put the two charges in one verse. In one breath He is telling me about this amazing gift of His peace, and just when I begin to rejoice, I’m told of troubles and fear. It’s like a “part A and part B” kinda statement; one is contingent on the other.
Because I have been given God’s peace, my heart should not be troubled, nor should I be afraid.
In other words, God is saying, if you decided to take on the peace that I’m giving you, know that you cannot and shouldn’t allow yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful, intimidated, and unsettled.
Hehe- stop rolling your eyes and shaking your heads. Yep, I know. Easier said than done, right? But why should it be? Could it be that as humans we always want to live the fast, and hassle free life? Perhaps we don’t have what it takes to stop allowing ourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and we don’t know how to not permit ourselves to be fearful. That’s because we’ve always tried it the human self-solved way. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. It is Him who is able to activate and utilize that Peace of God within us. It is through Him we’d be able to sail over our troubles, and smile through our storms.
I’m encouraged by the testimony of a friend. Her storm has turned into a category three hurricane; mortgage far overdue, school has already resumed, and her children’s tuitions have yet to be paid, car payments have tripled, jobs have been lost, and the list goes on, but through it all, she faithfully bellows, “I’m not stressing over it Melody. I am trusting God to make a way”. She brandishes the peace of God as her ship is being tossed and sails are being torn.
And just like that, I saw myself a liar. How can I have the peace that He gives and still be troubled?
His peace uploading….
Merry Melodious Melody
Amen 🙏 Our human ways will always cause us to be fearful , but if we cling to the peace of God which passeth all understanding then all will be well