Oh What Peace.

April 30, 2020

God is my refuge and strength, always there to help me when I need him, so I will not fear when earthquakes come and mountains crumble into the sea. 

Psalm 46:1-2 (Pace Version) 

This is my favorite psalm and here is why...

The world is kinda crazy right now. And that “Kinda” is a huge understatement. I’ve seen that in the past 5 months, Australia was on fire, WW3 almost started, locust plagued parts of Africa, Kobe died, the stock market crashed, school got canceled, Trump basically told the world to drink Clorox, millions have Corona, rumors that Kim Jong Un died spread, the pentagon released UFO visuals and had people going crazy, sports got canceled, people are stuck at home which correlates with domestic violence cases skyrocketing across the world and now people are protesting the quarantine because they wanna go to work.  Yeah, the world is wild right now. 

My friend’s graduation is being pushed back and I can only imagine how that feels. My little brother missed prom and may miss graduation. I lost my uncle to corona. I have many friends whose parents have tested positive. Life isn’t in a good place right now, to be frank, and it may feel like the world is falling apart before our eyes. But that’s exactly the visual we get in this verse. THE EARTH IS SHAKING. EVERYTHING IS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL. MOUNTAINS, the things you stood on, the things you found support in, the things and people you thought were bigger and stronger than you are crumbling... And this writer has the nerve to say that they are not afraid.

The things you can't see are taking away the little bit of peace you were holding on to. Life is falling apart but these writers are saying they aren’t fazed? Problems you can’t control are at your doorstep and fears and worries are coming with them but these writers aren’t tripping? Why? 

Because God is their refuge and strength. 

Now I hate when people just throw Jesus into bad situations and leave you instead of telling you how He can actually help you right now so ima try to elaborate. Yeah it sounds good, yeah it sounds logical, but how? How does it work? How do I get the results? How does God become my refuge? 

I don’t like jumping from verse to verse but another one of my favorite verses ever is in Philippians 4. It's not that I can do all things stuff (I wrote a devotional on that verse that you should go check out tho lol). It's actually Philippians 4:6-7. 

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I love this verse for a lot of reasons and I think it gives us a look into how we can not just have peace in our storm but trust in Jesus even while we're in the middle of a storm. 

The verse says don’t be anxious or scared about anything, instead bring it to God. Let go. Give the weight to him. Then you Will experience God's peace... Not maybe or sometimes or with these terms and conditions... No, you will experience this peace. And it's not peace that you supply or maintain, not peace from your ability but God's peace. And this peace that is bigger than what you could supply on your own is something that doesn’t make sense. People will see your storm and then look at your smile and wonder how it's possible. YOU will look at your storm and wonder how you haven’t gone crazy yet. But this peace won't just help you in the moment. It will guard your heart and mind as you’re protected in the refuge of Jesus, the best guy I know. 

Ok now, this is when God started using my nerdiness to reveal himself to me. The word for guard that Paul uses here is very interesting. Now he's talking to the Philippians. This is a place where retired soldiers go to settle down. War and the culture of war and conquest is common in this area. They understand the idea of fighting and defending because they’re in a place where this is a common background. (Kinda like how Oakwood is full of retired Adventists. There is a culture of church. It's almost in the DNA of the area. Or how Nashville is full of medical workers and musicians. The average listeners would identify in part with this background) So Paul uses a word that will have a special meaning to them. The word Paul uses for guard is “Froureo” which is a military term. It's a word they would use when talking about protecting a city in a battle. This isn’t just a casual type of “guarding”. This is battle-ready guarding. This is the guarding used when the secret service is guarding the president. This is a defense that turns into offense. This is Lebron in the 4th or Jordan getting the steal against Karl Malone in ‘98. 

When the bible says this peace will guard your heart and mind it means nothing is getting in. The peace we are promised to get will be a refuge as we remain safe in Jesus. A wall against intruders and people who wish to do harm. A refuge that guards against anything or anyone coming in and messing up the peace God has given you. 

I love how it says heart and mind because that's emotions and thoughts. You mean to tell me God can protect me from the negative thoughts that plague me and stop me from getting my feelings hurt? 

This sounds like an amazing offer but we almost never take it. Why? Because we don’t actually give God our problems. Oh, so often we pray as a “seasoning” on top of the “meals” that are our plans. We organize. We rationalize. We plan. And we tell ourselves that we will protect and provide for ourselves and just keep God around for precautionary measures (and how has that been working? lol)

We want God as a just-in-case measure and not our first and only option. He is standing by, asking if we need him to carry the luggage for us but we are too scared of what letting go may mean… And that is what is making us forfeit the peace He is trying to drown us in. We are strained under the weight of living life feeling like we're fighting on our own, and all Jesus is saying to do is tell him about it and let him handle it. But we either think we have to have our life together before giving it to Jesus orrr we aren’t honest enough with Him to admit we have issues, fears, insecurities, and doubts. ORRRRRR we are afraid of what letting Him in will look like and if it will change too much in our lives and take our control from us. Let me let you in on a secret. He already knows. He already knows you and all the baggage you bring. He already knows your family history and trauma. He already knows your mistakes and slip-ups. But he also knows a way out and promises that He can recycle the bad things that happened to you and repurpose them into things that ALL work together for your good. 

I believe the writers of this Psalm weren’t afraid of the storms surrounding them because they gave their concerns to God and went inside of the refuge of peace he provided. 

Do you wanna go inside of the refuge that is Jesus?

We make this so much harder than it is but my bible says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So call. And if you are afraid to call like I am at times, ask Him to give you the will and way to call. Ask Him to make you want to. 

Peace is coming. 

Walk into this refuge. 

Please continue to pray for this ministry and me.  School is about to start and I’m already feeling worried and overwhelmed. Pray for me. Pray that God moves. Pray that I let go. 

I need this peace too. 

I’ve had a taste and I know that’s what I need now more than ever.