Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 ESV
Paul had a way of beginning or ending his letters with an admonition for the peace of God. If you are a writer, you use the words you want most remembered at the beginning and the ending of your piece.
I try to spend extended time with the Lord on Sundays, reading His Word and praying. Last Sunday, I had an overflow of prayer needs on my mind. My wife had three hospitalizations in September and was in rehab getting healthy enough to come home. My younger Daughter, who recently had reconstructive surgery after her double mastectomy, got an infection from the surgery, and they will have to go back in and clean out the infection, along with several other concerns. All these things were racing through my mind like I was at NASCAR.
Before I started praying nervously, a thought came to mind. If you have a relationship with someone who only has time for you when they need something and shows very little interest in your needs, that seems like a one-sided relationship. Now, God is self-sufficient; he has no needs, yet he created us for relationship with him, not because he needs it, but because we need it. So, I asked the Lord what was on his heart.
As I waited on the Lord, an increasing sense of his presence and peace came over my soul. Peace is our spiritual barometer. When barometric pressure sinks, it is a sign of inclement weather; when it rises, fair weather. It is much the same in the spiritual world: when we please God, he confirms that with his peace. When you lose your peace, you might want to check in with God to find out what’s happening, or he might want you to spend some time with him as he did with me that Sunday night.
Don’t be surprised if the Devil pervades your mind when you start waiting on the Lord. But if you patiently wait taking every thought captive, you will experience his peace because God wants to be with you more than you want to be with him.
Waiting on the Lord is a spiritual practice, and practice makes perfect.
The image is provided by Microsoft.
Ken Barnes, the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing and Broken Vessels through Kindle Direct Publishing.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- [email protected]
