Peace. In a world full of chaos, there may be nothing as elusive as peace. We yearn for peace in our surrounding world, but it is the inner peace that we really need. Peace with God and the Peace of God are truly our greatest needs. The world will always have trouble, but Jesus tells us that he leaves us His peace. As we reflect on God’s peace, we are reminded of the beauty that the Spirit can give us that very same peace.
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Taking our first steps is full of frustrations, bumps, and bruises, but those first steps are essential to learn to walk and grow. So it is with following Jesus. We are commanded to “walk in the Spirit.” Those steps can often be clumsy and uncoordinated, but one step after another we can eventually find ourselves “keeping in step with the Spirit.” That keeping in step, a close following of the Spirit’s leading, is the heart of being a Christian, and fruit it bears is what we call “the fruit of the Spirit.”
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Not all days are created equal. Some days pass with little importance, but there are other days that will have a lasting impact. As Paul pleads in his letter to the Galatians for the church to wake up and realize how they’ve missed Jesus. We too at Providence must recognize that the days are critical, and we are in danger of drifting away and missing what God would have for us in the remainder of 2020. Will we drift? Or will we stand firm?
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The story on 2020 is not finished. What’s our role in the rest of this year? What story will we tell? When the blind man gained his sight for the first time, he only had one story that he could tell- “I was blind, now I’m not, and that guy Jesus did it.” No matter the chaos, no matter the challenges- his story is our story too. As we move forward in this year, this is our story to tell to anyone that will listen.
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What happens when life turns to chaos and our comfort zone evaporates? Where do we go? What do we do? How do we respond? 2020 has been the terrifying merry-go-round that just won’t stop, but we’ve still got 5 months to go. So now what? Where will we go and what will we do with those 5 months? Our commitment hasn’t changed from the first month…we’re still “All In.” Are you?
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It has been said that the only thing in our lives that is constant is change. Every aspect of our life is subject to the forces of change: politics, health, trends, relationships, and the list could continue forever. This is why the doctrine of God’s immutability- that God does not change- is such a resting place for us. As the world continues to shift about us, we cry out along with the Psalmist that God is “our rock.” He is unchanging and always the same. He does not evolve or grow. He does not adapt or become “more perfect.” He is what He has always been and will be what He has always been.
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Power and Control: two things that this world is hell-bent on acquiring. We long for it. If we have it, we feel that we can dictate our desired outcome for situations in our life. When we have that ability, then we can feel safe and secure. Yet only God has full control of our lives and the power to bring things about. Where does that leave us? Why are we so consumed with pursuing something we’ll never get? For starters, we rest in the reality that God’s omnipotence is infinitely better than any power we may be able to muster.
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God knows everything. Everything that was, that is, and that will be. God knows the number of ants in the world and the hairs on your head, and God knows you. He knows everything about you. Does that truth comfort you or terrify you? Apart from Christ, that is the most terrifying reality we can be faced with. However, in Christ, it is one of the most comforting things we can ever know.
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Does God get lonely? Did God create us so that he could have some company and enjoy the presence of some new friends? No, God is not in need of us. If we were to all deny his existence, he would not be missing anything. Unlike us, he does not need anything outside of himself in order to continue to exist. He is all that He needs. That reality is one that can give us confidence that our God is truly worthy of worship.
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We are a people divided within ourselves. We often find ourselves trying stuck between a rock and a hard place. Our decisions are not clear, and our desires often conflicting. It can lead us to be hasty, inconsistent, passive, and timid. God is none of these. He is simple- not made of parts. All that God is, God is all the time. This idea is central to understanding the way in which God’s attributes work together. They do not work against one another, but in perfect harmony together.
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How do you even begin to talk about God? In his very nature, he is incomprehensible. It is folly to believe we can truly know and understand the fullness of God. Yet, God has revealed parts of himself to us in his word, and we would be truly foolish if we did not learn from what he has revealed. As we begin our study on the attributes of God, we begin by echoing the same confession as Job- that we are truly contemplating “things too wonderful” for us.
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As America once again deals with national unrest and racial tensions, we take time to see what the bible teaches us about the Christian’s role in these times. Paul’s letter to a fellow church leader about the return of a former slave gives us insight into the heart of the Christian faith. At the core of our faith is the deep need for reconciliation. That reconciliation begins with the sinner’s reconciliation to God, but the overflow of that is a relentless pursuit of reconciliation in the lives of those around us.
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Paul had spent his entire life preparing for a future that would never come. Paul might be the best example in all of scripture of someone that received a massive curveball in his life. He had trained, studied, and disciplined himself to be an elite pharisee. He was the most dedicated of the dedicated. Yet that day on the road to Damascus, everything changed for Paul. He went from a man brimming with confidence in his abilities and achievements to a man that had his eyes opened to the utter lack of confidence he had before God. Paul’s life was wrecked, but in the same moment, it was saved.
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When life gives us a curveball, it can feel like our lives are falling apart. From our perspective, they might be. Our ability to control the situation and the narrative can be disorienting. For King David, this happened to him far more often than he would’ve liked by some of the people you’d least expect- his own children. Yet when David’s life seemed the most out of control and the most disorienting, that is when David would find his rest elsewhere- not in his ability to control it, but instead in God’s promises.
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In life, sometimes our emotions can get the best of us. At times, those emotions can be warranted based on what we have observed, but sometimes those emotions are rooted not in facts, but in ignorance. When David tried to return the Ark of the Covenant to its proper place, David had one of those moments when one of his men, Uzzah, was struck dead for trying to steady the Ark as it fell. David was furious, but that was because he was ignorant of just how much he needed God’s grace. Later though, once his eyes had been opened, he was dancing because God let him walk just six small steps.
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