Pain, Peace and the Gospel
Raise your hand if you are in a tough spot right now. Maybe you're doing bad in school, lost your job, or have a loved one who is close to death.
Now raise your hand if you just can't seem to get everything together. You are always waiting for that next little victory or encouragement in life to get you moving but it never seems to come. OK put your hands down.
Now, how about those of you who are at peace with God, man, and life. How are you really doing? Is it real peace or is there just a lack of tension, pain, and problems right now. In other words, are you really finding that your peace is rooted in your submission to and faith in your creator through Jesus or are you just problem free at the moment.
It seems like I live consistently between feeling at peace when I am problem free and feeling stressed and anxious when things are not easy as I am surrounded with personal, family, and community issues.
In this life, my goal should not be to seek a problem free lifestyle in my aim for peace. Again, peace resulting from an absence of problems is not real biblical peace, it is just a rest time from the hard things in life. In regards to peace, my goal should be to fight the good fight of faith and rest in Jesus and in doing so receive the peace that passes all understanding.
It is during this "peace that passes all understanding" times in life that we can really see God and people more clearly. Our eyes turn from being focused upon our situation and they look up to God and out to humanity.
I was reminded of this today when I was reading Ephesians 6:18-20. These verses contain much encouragement but what struck me the most was Paul asking the saints to pray for him, that "words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."
Paul was in prison, he was not free to do and live as he pleased. This situation would not be considered a "best life now" or "wonderful plan" to most. Most of us would be so consumed with ourselves and the unjustness of our situation that we would not have a peace that passes understanding that allows the gospel to go out as we trustingly exhale.
There are many ways in which we are taught to pray to God.
Sidenote: A group of us just watched The Clash of the Titans last night and hope that all believers are clear on the fact that our prayers to and love for God are not the things that sustain him! He is self-sustaining. He is power, he is life. He is not dependent on man like Zeus and the others from the myths of ancient Greece.
There are many ways in which we are taught to pray to God directly and then there inferred examples like this passage. It is very clear that we are to ask God to give us the words to share the gospel with others, but we need to learn something else from Paul here.
During this life we will have suffering and unrest. But during those times will we trust God? It is not wrong to pray to be delivered from difficult situations, but it is definitely right to take part in one of our highest privileges as believers...to share Jesus, the hope of our salvation.
We often speak correctly of letting the world see our love. We need to let the world see our hope, and during the difficult times of life the gospel will go forth through that avenue.
All our prayers for others and ourselves should have a gospel declaration bent. We don't want to be problem free saints in order to think we are truly resting in God, we want to be peace filled saints in all situations so that we can share the gospel and worship God. We pray for the health of others so they can be relieved of pain, but let us also pray that in the pain they will exude with hope in Jesus, and when and if they get well they will run the race declaring the gospel.
