Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Thessalonians 5, 23
God is the God of peace. That is his goal with us: his peace should rule over us and sanctify us through and through, the spirit, the soul and the body. What is it that repeatedly takes God’s peace from us? It is fear, worry and apprehension.
The worries come into our hearts like dark clouds. They smother the tiny seeds of faith planted by God. Apprehension that something might happen robs us of our faith that God our Lord is ever present, and we experience sleepless nights. Fear drives into ruin. It robs us of the serenity of faith and the comfort and security of rest-in-God. When fear rears its ugly head, worries trouble and apprehension determines our thoughts, then we should return to the peace of God and become still before him. We want to return to the safety and comfort of God! If he is Lord, what should I be afraid of? If he cares for me, why should unnecessary worries cloud my heart?
This is a tactic of faith that we need to practice so that we aren’t constantly bombarded with new fears. The faster we learn to leave everything to God, and to go to him from the word go, the stronger our faith and our peace will become. We might not be able to do that from the start, but it is something we will learn! God does not focus on our failures, rather he rejoices every time we do accomplish something.
The peace of God should not be only in our hearts, but rather all around us. The soul should be ruled by him and the body should be his holy temple. Everything should be lit up by his holy light. That is good for our health, for our emotional wellbeing, for our families and for our careers.
Jesus, please take me as I am and sanctify me! You are the Lord of peace. Please rule in my heart, my thoughts, my emotions and my body. Yes, Lord, I need you more than anything else!
Bible study for today: Isaiah 49, 9b-26