I was used to being on stage. I was used to being in front of people singing, dancing, acting, and teaching. But here I was, with my heart pounding so loud it could drown the noise of the traffic and all I had to do was talk to one person.
Spotlight
Peace in Trying Times
FB: @PaulineChitraDaniel
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” – John 14:27
When God promises us peace, he doesn’t mean that he will make all our problems go away. In fact, when Jesus told his disciples that he was giving them his peace, he also said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” As long as we are in this world, difficulties and problems are guaranteed. Yet Jesus says that in him we can have peace.
Phil 4:5b-7 says, “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Verses 6 and 7 are verses that I memorized a long time ago and that I repeat to myself whenever I am worried about anything. I tell myself not to worry but to just pray about the issue. But only recently I noticed the first part of the sentence that comes in v5 which is the actual reason why we don’t worry but can have peace by committing the situation to God and that is – ‘the Lord is at hand’ or ‘the Lord is near’. It is God’s presence with us that enables us to have peace in difficult circumstances.
When I was young, there was this song that we used to sing in church that went:
I know who holds the future , And I know he holds my hand; With God things don’t just happen ev’rything by Him is planned. So as I face tomorrow with its problems large and small, I’ll trust the God of miracles, Give to Him my all!
Our peace doesn’t come from an assurance that tomorrow will be problem-free. Our peace doesn’t come from an assurance that there will be no difficulty. Our peace is not because we have recited Ps 91 and so Covid won’t come near us, as some WhatsApp forwards promise. Our peace comes from God’s presence with us. The source of our peace is the fact that whatever situation we are in, God is walking with us and holding our hand.
God is with us not just in our good times but even in our bad times. And we know that this God who is with us loves us and that he is sovereign over our circumstances. And so, we trust that he has a plan and purpose in whatever he brings our way. And because of that, we can have peace no matter what our circumstances.
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The light on a mountain
2021 — “Can I come by and see you tomorrow?” I asked. “Not possible now,” she said. “Are you up for a call?” I pestered. “I’ll call,” she texted.
2020 — “You have handled business worth crores, and you can’t manage to make a simple Gpay transfer of 2000 rupees?” I asked. “Just shut up and do it for me,” she snapped.
I, Crucified
Paul reminds us that all those who have chosen to follow Christ have crucified the flesh, that is their old sinful natures, with its passions and desires. So, we shouldn’t be too preoccupied with what “I” want to do because “I” has been crucified! As Paul says in Gal 2, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Freedom to fulfil.
In Galatians, Paul repeatedly emphasizes that Christians are freed from the law. He goes to the extent of saying that if you seek to be justified by the law then you are severed from Christ (Gal 5:4). He even talks of having died to the law (Gal 2:19). Yet, here he asks the Galatians to serve one another through love, because by doing that they would fulfil the law! If they were free of the law, why should they care about fulfilling the law?
Good soil. Good fruit.
Just as trees don’t produce fruit overnight, we don’t become perfect human beings as soon as we begin following Christ. The growth of the fruit of the Spirit in us is a process. And while this process is going on, we experience the struggle described in Gal 5:17.