As we cope with all of the issues of today’s pandemic, racial tension and responsive protests, we find our emotions raging and all over the place as to how we should feel and think.
In particular, children are struggling to understand and grasp what is happening to their world. Parents are searching for answers, worried about loss of income and stability for sustaining some type normalcy for themselves and families, and business owners are crying out for help to survive the economic crisis beyond their control.
Suffering loss of business income, loss of employment, loss of housing and potentially emotional instability is not confined to race, color creed or religion. We are all struggling to survive the difficulty of our times and are all trying to balance and maintain a sense of emotional health. The Scripture calls us to lean on the Word, to call on God and to rest in faith to get through the difficult times of life. We must remember that none of this is foreign to God and it is not beyond His reach to comfort, give peace and open up new opportunities for the next chapter in our lives.
We know that the Word of God teaches that in the last day perilous times would come (2 Tim 3:1). Our assurance is that God is our peace in the midst of storms. Now this is easier read than done for many. Choosing to run to God for safety and protection of the mind and heart is necessary to surviving today’s perils. However, developing daily practices for personal survival, peace of mind and physical strength is going to be essential in coming out of this current climate healthy and whole. The Bible tells us that God is our strength and a very present help in the time of trouble. Knowing this truth is accessible to those who believe and trust in God as their source of strength provides hope in hopeless times. Deciding to exercise the Word in moments of passion requires intentional focus of discipline; One that we would plan to practice daily for developing spiritual skill sets for surviving the storms. There is peace for us in such times as these. This peace is in God!
God provides a peace that surpasses natural comprehension. The peace He offers is a supernatural peace that far exceeds our limitation, but flows from Christ into our hearts and anchors our confidence in the God who cannot fail. We are solicited of the Holy Spirit to simply ask God for it and yield; To choose His peace over the taunting emotions that rise in moments of temptation to steal our peace. Resting in God’s strength and protection from the fierce winds of life is voluntary. You must seek and pursue it for it to occupy your heart and spirit. Once acquired of God, we must let it reign in our hearts (see Col. 3:15-17).
As Christians we sometimes don’t focus on the essentiality of the Word of God in a relationship with Christ for sustaining healthy emotions. Doing so is necessary to fully enjoying the peace that God intended for the church to have and occupy daily. This peace of God is to sustain us in times when there is a difficulty that would steal our peace. Living in God’s peace is a choice. It demands mental effort and a refusal to be denied what is promised, but we have to let it reign in our hearts or it won’t. The peace of God is accessed by faith and yielding to God’s provision for our entire lives. His grace is sufficient for us.
We are living in a new norm and in the end times. We must develop the ability to endure hardness, as times aren’t going to get much better, but an ill regard of morality and the loss of dependence on God as the answer will become the new mainstream norm. We must strengthen our ability to lean on the peace of God for strength and rest in such a godless time so we can maintain emotional health and spiritual strength for surviving such a time as this.
Listen to the entire episode of The Power of Intimacy With Christ on the Charisma Podcast Network for more of Mancha’s powerful teaching on this topic. {eoa}
Connect with Dr. Sharon Mancha at her website, sharonmancha.com and blog, sharonmancha.com/blog. Share this podcast with your Twitter followers using this link: twitter.com/drsharonmancha.
L.A. Marzulli