Peace Beyond a Summer Breeze

By Laurie Ness

"Peace" is such a beautiful, tranquil word.  It causes me to remember quiet summer afternoons in my childhood, lying on the soft, fragrant green grass and watching fluffy white clouds lazily amble across an ocean-blue sky.  Even in my grown-up summers, there is still nothing like feeling the gentlest of warm breezes soothing my skin and moving through my hair to bring a sense of peace.  Sometimes I literally stop whatever I'm doing and just bask in the moment and thank the Lord for such a lovely blessing.

There are times in our lives, though, which are NOT so ideal.  We aren't children anymore, with endless summer days of freedom.  We aren't so innocent, so untouched by life's circumstances, so unaffected by the events of the world.  Now we are the ones who are trying to allow today's children to BE children, shielded as much as appropriately possible from the hurts and hardships, just like older generations did for us.

Can there possibly be peace in our hearts when we go through gut-wrenching trials in this life?  The world only seems to be spinning more and more out of control as we, humankind as a whole, focus less and less on God and live more self-centered lives.  Then there are the very personal struggles, which, to us as individuals, have nothing to do with the rest of the world.  When our loved one is so ill, or our child is in serious rebellion, or we don't know how we will make ends meet, or someone has betrayed us . . . the rest of the world's problems fade into oblivion as we experience our own very personal pain.

Is there any peace to be had?

Oh, yes, my friend, there is!

Great peace have they who love Your law, and nothing can make them stumble.  Psalm 119:165

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.  Isaiah 62:3

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

So much of it starts in our own minds . . . in our own acts of obedience . . . in our own choice of attitudes.  Peace comes more naturally when we prepare ourselves  to choose it.

Last year at this time, my heart was breaking for my husband.  I mean, sometimes I felt like I couldn't bear the pain of what he was unjustly enduring.  The ache was always so very present.

But so was the peace!

No, I didn't choose to walk in peace every moment.  I allowed fear to creep in and begin to take root more than once!  I was truly afraid!  But God's Spirit was at work in me.  I had His Word in my mind and heart, and continued to drink it in.  Peace.  I had past experiences, awful ones that God had redeemed, to remember and cherish.  Peace.  I was making an effort, when I remembered, to choose joy in the midst of pain and to wholeheartedly trust God to do what He knew was best.  Peace.  We had family and friends who prayed faithfully and took time to encourage and support us. Peace.

We had the Truth on our side.  Sweet peace!

Sometimes peace is a feeling that all is perfect in a single moment, like on a quiet, cloud-watching summer afternoon.  We should enjoy and savor those times!  But real peace comes when it's the hardest to choose it.  That's when we need it most.  But we need to prepare for it before we need it!  Filling our minds with God's Word, praying earnestly for peace, and choosing to live peacefully day by day, minute by minute, will prepare us for experiencing peace in the hardest of times!

The Very Words of God

"For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.  They are ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord."  Jude 4

One of the several things I have learned the hard way over the past few years is that heresy is rampant, including in places you wouldn't expect to find it.  A typical American can probably not go through a day without witnessing it in one form or another.  It isn't new to us.  Maybe we even become a bit "immune" to its effects after awhile.

What has shocked me to the core is some of the sources of false teaching.  People I know personally, people I don't know but have trusted in the past (I mean "famous" Christians, I guess) . . . formerly solid-in-their-faith individuals, or seemingly so, who have wandered into dangerous territory.

Now, before I go on, I want to assure you I'm not talking about anyone at SGC.  It's very important to me that you know I'm not talking about anyone you probably know personally.

But maybe you have your own acquaintances or famous people whose opinions you respected in the past but seem to have gone off the deep end theologically.  If not, you and the people in your life are extra blessed!  But let us remain vigilant . . .

And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. Psalm 12:6

The heresy flying here, there, and everywhere is one of the main reasons we need to keep learning.  It is not safe to take our eyes off the Word of God.  Satan often begins his deceptions subtly, and we can slowly become swayed from the path if we allow false teaching to go unchecked.  Pretty soon we could be so deceived that we become heretics ourselves, not even seeing our errors.  My heart aches to even think of being in that state.  May it never be--for any of us!

First Corinthians 5:6 reminds us that a little leaven affects the whole lump of dough.  In other words, if we tolerate sin and/or false teaching in small amounts, it will affect the whole local church where it isn't nipped in the bud.  Or, as many of us have probably witnessed, it can take over one person's life, spilling over onto his or her family, friends and acquaintances, poisoning those who don't know or aren't paying attention.

The only way to recognize the counterfeit is to know the real thing.  The Truth.  The Bible.  And the only way to know it is to read and study it faithfully!

There are so many excuses not to.  Believe me, I've used quite a few of them over the years.  "I don't have time."  "I can't decide what part to read or where to start."  "It's hard to understand, so why bother?"

An awesome opportunity to throw away the excuses and dig in to the Word is through a group Bible study.  Sugar Grove Church has several times and studies available for women in the fall and again after the holidays.  There's something for everyone!  Participating in a group study provides us with accountability, inspiration and help in understanding what we're studying.  I have been attending the Precepts study for years and love everything about it.  One great thing about meeting together with other believing ladies after we have done our homework is that the discussion helps me understand things I may have had trouble with on my own.  There's no shame in asking for help or learning from others!

If for some reason you just can't make a Bible study group, maybe there's one person you can pair up with.  But, in any case, we need to be studying our Bibles, even if it's alone.  There are tools online (one of my favorites is e-Sword) or available for purchase that can help us understand and get the most out of what we are studying--the very words of God!

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17