Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
For many shoppers in America, this is the day when they camp out in front of department stores, waiting for the doors to open early so that they can rush in and grab bargains. It’s sort of like a roller derby without roller skates. The stated objective is to buy Christmas presents for friends and loved ones; however, as one comedian observed in her video, shoppers frequently wind up with things for themselves. How can you survive amid such chaos, let alone find peace?
Perhaps you’re not a shopper but someone who has worked on a project for a year, only to discover that the people for whom you have been struggling have chosen to abandon the project without informing you. How can you have peace?
Perhaps you are separated from those you love the most with no way to join them for Thanksgiving or Christmas. How can you have peace?
Perhaps you are facing health challenges that appear to multiply with each passing day. How can you have peace?
Perhaps you are not joining Christmas shoppers because you have lost your job or are facing other financial challenges that mean Christmas will be very modest this year. How can you have peace?
The good news is that true peace from God, “fruit of the Holy Spirit peace,” doesn’t depend on circumstances, health, finances, or anything else. Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (New King James Version) The Message version says, “People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don’t quit. Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.”
Only God can give the peace of the Holy Spirit, and that’s great news because God isn’t worried about Christmas shopping or bills or health issues or any of the other things that worry us. The Creator of the Universe spoke the stars into existence, and He is all powerful, powerful enough to remove our fears and anxieties.
The prophet Jeremiah had the unenviable task of prophesying to the people of Jerusalem as the Babylonians were building siege mounds and preparing to take the city. False prophets were telling frightened idolaters what they wanted to hear-namely, that God would miraculously deliver them, even though they had abandoned Him. At this point, Jeremiah was in and out of prison and had critics watching him to see how they could destroy him. In the midst of this chaos, God moved one of Jeremiah’s relatives to sell him land as a sign that eventually land would again be bought and sold in Judah. When Jeremiah protested-after all, the Babylonians were literally at the gates-God spoke. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:26-27)
The prophet Isaiah whose words are quoted at the beginning of this devotional lived in difficult times and eventually was slaughtered by wicked King Manasseh; yet, through Isiah we have some of the most reassuring statements about God’s peace ever written.
We can have peace when we trust “the Lord, the God of all flesh” because that peace comes from God and not from our circumstances. But how do we achieve this peace? Isaiah 26 gives us the answer: “People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don’t quit. Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.”
Set your mind on God, on His power, His purposes, His goodness, and His holiness. When we keep our focus on God rather than on our problems, we WILL be “steady on our feet because we keep at it and don’t quit.” We can depend on God and keep at it because we KNOW that “in the Lord God we have a sure thing.”
As we end the Thanksgiving season and begin to prepare for Christmas, let us keep our minds focused on God and not on our problems. Find a Bible verse that speaks to you about peace, write it in your phone, put it on post it notes, doing anything you have to so that verse will be with you and ask God to reveal Himself to you through that verse. When you ask for such things, God the Good Father will be happy to teach you.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are drowning in chaos. We desperately need Your Holy Spirit Peace. Please help us to seek You and Your Will and teach us about Your true Nature, for then we will definitely have lasting peace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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