God's Perfect Peace

 By Carl Kimbro, Fellowship Bible Church Celebrate Recovery Devotional Team, 11/17/21

Recently, the focus question for Friday night open share at Celebrate Recovery involved these words from the Serenity Prayer: “Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.” I spent many nights repeating those words over and over and asking God to let that be true in my chaotic, stressful life where peace didn’t seem to exist.

When I think of the word “peace,” I think of a relaxed person in tune with both God and the world around them. A person at peace has a mind that doesn’t feel mentally fatigued and is free from worry and stress.  I view peace as something that comes from turning our troubles, worries, fears and cares over to God. Doing this isn’t always easy. For myself, I know the problem. It’s me not trusting Him to give me peace. It’s me trying to find peace on my own apart from God.

1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast your anxiety on Him because He cares for you”.  Peter is explaining God’s expectations for behavior amongst His people. That this command falls in the midst of struggles shows God expects trust to be a behavior and an attitude. The behavior is a willingness to cast all our fears and worries on Him. The attitude is expecting peace because God loves us and cares for us. What peace would we have if we made it an automatic behavior of trust to cast our anxiety on God, and believe He will give us rest from our worries? 

 God promises in Isaiah 26:3 that if we trust Him; if our minds and thoughts are focused on Him, then he will give us perfect peace.  “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”  Knowing this, I can with absolute certainty know God is with me every step of the way. His presence with me is the proof of His peace in me. What an awesome truth – God loves us and he cares for us. He imparts peace on us when we trust in Him to do so.  

One other proof for me of God giving us His peace is Friday nights at Celebrate Recovery. There I see the miraculous healing power of God. I see changed lives. I see hope where none existed before. I see people finding the miracle they were looking for. It is a strong reminder that we are loved by the all Powerful Creator of the universe. And if God is for us, how can anxiety, fear and worry overcome us? The answer is it can’t if we turn our worries over to Him and trust Him to take care of us.

 


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