PEACE

(Some of the extracts are from My daily devotional)

Peace is something I know we all yearn for and want at all costs. Thanks to God we have peace in certain areas of our lives but in others we have a lot of anxiety and worry. It is acknowledged in the bible that we will have our challenges but through it all God is always there. It is interesting how many of us read the bible and usually just pick verses that we like and expect certain things to happen immediately or the way we will like it too. what I have realised since I took the decision to go through my bible is that sometimes we ignore the verses before or after that qualifies the verse we hold on to.

God is constantly working on our behalf but he did not say we will not have challenges, Jesus Christ went through worse than we did and in the end to a death that was gruesome but all the same still working on our behalf.

Am sure we have all read Jeremiah 29:11.
"For I know the plans that I have towards you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."


However, what is interesting about this particular passage of scripture is not the words that are found within it, but rather in the words that come BEFORE it.

VERSE 10: "For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place..."

The entire 29th chapter of Jeremiah consists of a letter that was delivered to the King of Judah by the prophet Jeremiah; a letter that prophesied that the land of Jerusalem (all 10,000 of its citizens) would be taking captive by the infamous tyrant and ruler of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar. Within this letter, God shares with Jerusalem that while He indeed has thoughts and plans to prosper them, their future successes will only come AFTER a period of great trial and pain.

A period that lasted seventy years.
(So why is that important to remember on today, you ask?)

Simply because I want you to know that SUCCESS, while something we all desire and often dream of, does not happen overnight. True success (in God) comes through process. Now more than ever before, we as believers must exercise patience not only with the reading of God's word, but also when it comes to our personal lives and goals. Our desire to get to the end of our struggle must not be at the expense of truly appreciating our struggle.


Through it all God promises us his peace. Every time he visited people in the new testament through his angels, the first words are always do not be afraid. Luke 1:30 When God is on our side we have nothing to be afraid of, everything we are going through is temporary and if you look back, we have all had periods when it’s been tough and we got through it, we look back at those times and it seems like it was not as bad as when we were going through those challenges.

The peace of God is a gift and can only be received by waiting constantly on God. When you have a guarantee on a product you have peace about it. Trust me your lives are guaranteed in Christ, so you need to have peace knowing he is in control.