06/14/2017
Do I have the serenity in my life that Jesus had in His? Is my life spent settled into constant comfort and peace, and if not... why isn't it? Perhaps I am not truly abiding in Christ. These thoughts were provoked in me by my reading this morning.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
John 15:4 KJV
Oswald Chambers opened me to the thought of what Jesus' life was like and pointed out how differently I approached mine. I became aware that I was often missing one of the greatest gifts of God... to be at constant peace in Him. Chambers wrote these words:
"With Our Lord the inner abiding was unsullied; He was at home with God wherever His body was placed. He never chose His own circumstances, but was meek towards His Father's dispensations for Him. Think of the amazing leisure of Our Lord's life. We keep God at excitement point, there is none of the serenity of the life hid with Christ in God about us." - Oswald Chambers
Certainly I experience times of great tranquility and peace in God, but there are so many times when I take the reins of my life back into my hands and run with it until a lather forms on its neck. When I take the control of my life back, it seems that my natural inclination is to froth and foam like a stormy sea, and the calm of Jesus is gone.
Why is this so? Why do I fret over the spiritual challenges that I face? Why do the things that God calls me to do become like mountains to conquer before me? At what point does the fear of failure in His calling slip back into me? It happens the moment I doubt, it happens the instant I step from the threshold of Jesus and no longer am abiding in Him. We are told to abide in Him, and in as much as He abides in God... there is the peace of God.
Even before He was born it was prophesied that He would be so founded in The Father that He would be known as the Prince of Peace. Isaiah wrote of Him in this way:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6 KJV
Jesus had peace and tranquility exuding from Him because He had absolute faith that God would provide, and in the love of the Father. He never doubted in God's hand remaining upon Him. This is what we should feel as well. Our lives should be settled not only into His arms, but deep into the calm that comes from an unwavering trust in His provision.
When we are children, and live in a godly home, we trust in our earthly parents. We know that they will provide for us. The means of our provision never concerns us because it is being handled by our parents and God. We are abiding in our parent's home. The peace this brings is expressed by such phrases as "the joy of childhood." We would nestle into our beds at night and play with friends by day; our tables had food upon them, and our greatest concern was in perhaps having to eat something we didn't like even though it was good for us. This tranquility is an image of what we experience in faith when we abide in Christ. Jesus tells us as much. Let's read what He said to the apostles...
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 14:27 KJV
Wonderful reassurance of a deep abiding in Him, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." This is a peace that comes from absolute faith and confidence in God. This was why Jesus lived in tranquility, or as Chambers expressed, leisure, and it is also why, when we are in Him, He gives us that same life with the Father.
It isn't about wealth and money. I was speaking with a godly man at church this past Sunday morning and he was telling me about how his family lived from hand to mouth, but despite his meager means and some long running physical ailments, there was a calm about him and a happiness in life that I always saw in him. He told me that although his family never had a lot, they always had enough, and that His grown kids had told him how they always remembered that about their childhood. Then in a voice of assurance he said "God always provided, and He is always good."
I recall thinking as he spoke... Do we fret in our lives because provision isn't enough... do we lack peace because we long for much more than enough?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for you provision. I thank you for allowing me to abide in you. Give me the peace and tranquility of a life founded in you, and let my trust in your goodness remove all doubt and uncertainty regarding my future. Holy Father, your Son Jesus trusted in you without fault and I long to have that same relationship. Let me abide in your Son, and then, as He abides in you, so I will abide also. Dear Lord keep me, and when my hands reach for the reins of my life, remind me that you have them and that I should take comfort in that. Take away the longing for excess and give me satisfaction in those things I need each day. When you do provide me with more than I need, I praise you for that wealth, and know it is only by your hand. Help me Father to see how you would have me manage your bounty and don't let it become a distraction to our closeness, but rather, let it become grease for the wheels of your will.
Rich Forbes