His Strength Can Be Yours, Too!

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many of us know the pain of loneliness. We experience the reality of being on the outside looking in. Sometimes others turn their backs on us. On occasion, suffering separates us from others. Many of us can’t find good friends and companions who will share the journey of life with us.

Some of us are wounded by broken relationships with family and friends. There is great guilt in the way we seem to most often hurt the ones that we love the most. We need forgiveness and healing. No one escapes the torments of life. We are tormented by memories. We are enslaved by secrets. We are driven by fears that we are so bad we are unlovable—not even God can, or will love us.

Undoubtedly, we all have crises in our lives. Times when we feel there is neither hope nor anywhere to turn for relief. Many of us feel that we are living in a perpetual state of crisis and that God himself has turned a deaf ear toward us. We feel so defeated, depleted, and discouraged that we believe we just can't go on.

Eventually it affects us all. Take Elijah, God’s iron man of the Old Testament. He became so discouraged that he sat down under a juniper tree and prayed to die. According to Mark 8:12, even Jesus himself often “sighed” deep within his spirit. Paul had so many difficult experiences in Asia that according to 2 Corinthians 1:8 he, “despaired even of life.”

Winston Churchill confessed that he was often, “hounded by the black dog of despair.” Charles H. Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers since the Apostle Paul, fought continual bouts of depression as a result of gout that finally killed him at age 58.

As we walk through this life, we face many trials and tribulations.There is much loneliness, discontent, disappointment and discouragement. But the glorious truth is, God has an answer to these problems. The answer is not found in our feelings, nor in the philosophies of man, but the answer is found in the Bible, God’s Holy Word.

Throughout the ages of time man has sought for peace. The peace that I'm talking about is peace with God. This peace is the peace that will calm the soul. This peace can't come by man. It can't come by power, prestige, or wealth. You can't satisfy inner spiritual needs with outward worldly things. Yet, people are seeking daily to find peace from temporal, or worldly sources.

I love watching classic movies. Sadly, there was a very prominent actor in Hollywood, during the 1940's and 50's, who took his own life. He had left a note which said, “I committed suicide because I am boring, and I have lived long enough.” You see, the passing glories of this world can't bring peace.

Inner peace comes only from God. The Bible says in (Psalms 29:11) “The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” Here we see that God has promised peace to His people. This means that if we are to enjoy the blessing of God’s peace, we must be His people; that is, we must be saved. This leads us to the means through which God gives us peace, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. There can be no peace with God except through Jesus Christ.

We can see two things about the peace of God in Philippians 4:5-9. First, we see that we are not to panic when trials come.We are not to worry about things, because the Lord is at hand; that is, He is right here with us through all our trials. We are to pray and make our requests known to God, and His peace that passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The second thing we see is that if we will think of the good things, trust in God, obey His Word, then the reality of the God of peace will be with us. The presence of God will be a constant reality giving us strength during the storms of life.

Dear readers, the search for peace can end in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, because He is the source of all true peace. The strength of peace can be experienced and enjoyed by all the children of God. During the time of death, tragedies, disappointments, changes in our lives that come so hard, the peace of God will keep us.

In closing, remember that the Lord Jesus is always present with us. He will never leave nor forsake us. The problem is that we don’t trust in Him as we should. If we will continually draw from the promises of God, this will fill our hearts with power and strength for every trial that comes our way. It will also release the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and one of these fruits is peace. And, peace is one of the keys to living the Christian life.

Scripture: John 16:33; 1 Peter 2:21; Mark 11:23; Ephesians 6:12; Psalm 40:17; Hebrews 4:12; Romans 8:28  

Prayer: Dear Father, life seems so hard at times and I can hardly get through. I close my eyes and hand you my troubles for I know you can do much better than I. Amen

Have a blessed day!

Makinzie