Life is Hard! I’m sure each of you are saying, “You got that one right!” Life is hard. It is filled with challenges and difficulties. It is filled with trials and despair. It doesn’t take long for us to look at lives around us, or even at our own lives, to see troubled situations. In my line of work, Human Resources, we hear about people’s lives and the trouble they are facing. It could be health issues, financial woes, relationship strains, or worse. It takes its toll to hear what happens with folks. Then you turn on the news and you hear more despair – people hurting each other, little disagreements leading to violence and war. My heart breaks at the end of each day. Peace seems to be replaced with distress.
I know in my own life, when times of challenge and despair would arise, the peace that I deeply cherish would wane. I would sit in the church pew and beg God to give me peace, to rest my heart from hurting and my mind from worrying. I would pray for answers to questions on how this could happen and why would these situations continue. I would cry myself to sleep in agony of these things.
God was very deliberate in letting Christians know that just because we believe in Him and eternity, it did not mean our lives would be filled with roses and rainbows. In fact, in James 1: 2-4, He states, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” It is hard to see joy during trials. It is difficult to have peace amongst agony. So how do we get through each day? How can we let the worry go and gain rest?
It all rests in the hands of our Lord! A belief in Jesus, knowing that he brings us grace and mercy, knowing that this world is temporary and that our heavenly place awaits, knowing that He has overcome anything that this world can throw at us, gives us that peace! My soul and body can only rest when I am at peace. I have come to realize that this world cannot give me the peace I need to react to the things of the world. No massage, no yoga, no drug, no alcohol, and no food can bring me the peace my soul and mind needs. The only way I can receive the gift of peace in times of trouble is by covering myself with Jesus. I read His word, I listen to Christian music, and I sit in a church pew and ask for forgiveness – for lack of trusting Him to execute His plan, not mine. When I do that, peace overflows and as the great hymn says, “It is well, it is well with my soul”!
Friends, life is hard! It can bring despair. Yet rest in the assurance that there is One greater than any challenge we may face. Put your life into God’s hands. Resolve yourself to Him. Feel the peace wash over you, knowing He is in control. Our tribulations may not magically disappear, but our ability to trust in the One that can help you through those tribulations will bring the peace necessary to see the next day! Peace to you!
Dearest Jesus, thank you for giving to us the gift of peace. Help us to be reminded during difficult times that you are there for us, wanting to hold us and guide us, ready to give us the peace we need to see the next day. Amen!
It all rests in the hands of our Lord! A belief in Jesus, knowing that he brings us grace and mercy, knowing that this world is temporary and that our heavenly place awaits, knowing that He has overcome anything that this world can throw at us, gives us that peace! My soul and body can only rest when I am at peace. I have come to realize that this world cannot give me the peace I need to react to the things of the world. No massage, no yoga, no drug, no alcohol, and no food can bring me the peace my soul and mind needs. The only way I can receive the gift of peace in times of trouble is by covering myself with Jesus. I read His word, I listen to Christian music, and I sit in a church pew and ask for forgiveness – for lack of trusting Him to execute His plan, not mine. When I do that, peace overflows and as the great hymn says, “It is well, it is well with my soul”!
Friends, life is hard! It can bring despair. Yet rest in the assurance that there is One greater than any challenge we may face. Put your life into God’s hands. Resolve yourself to Him. Feel the peace wash over you, knowing He is in control. Our tribulations may not magically disappear, but our ability to trust in the One that can help you through those tribulations will bring the peace necessary to see the next day! Peace to you!
Dearest Jesus, thank you for giving to us the gift of peace. Help us to be reminded during difficult times that you are there for us, wanting to hold us and guide us, ready to give us the peace we need to see the next day. Amen!
Amen
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