PEACE, NOT PANIC
Last Sunday, I wrote my Christian Living blog about Jesus
taking away Satan’s jabs at our peace.
Jesus delivered us from the “chastisement of our peace,”
as it says in Isaiah 53:5, but we must believe it and receive it into our daily
reality. Here’s a real-life example of how it can work. Jesus quickly
intervened in a stressful situation, and I went instantly from panic to peace.
I was struggling with my new computer. It was the day
before I needed to write my weekly blog. One of the platforms I use is Facebook,
and another is Blogger.com. I couldn’t
get either one to come up on the new computer, and I was starting to freak out.
My brain was racing wildly as I tried to get Facebook to accept my new password.
It wouldn’t, so I tried an old one, but with no success, so I tried to apply
for a new one. I opted for a text with a code, but when they said they had sent
it to my phone, it never came! I was getting frantic, and I was running out of
time.
I looked at the password I used, and it looked a little
strange, so I tried adding what I thought I may have missed. But still, nothing
worked, and my blood pressure must have been skyrocketing. I could feel the
pinching tenseness all over my body. My shoulders hunched, my forehead
furrowed; I was overheated, emotionally overwhelmed, and felt like I was
tumbling down a dark hole in utter panic.
Then my best friend Jane calmly and quietly intervened,
“Can you do your blog on your old computer?” (Of course I could, but I was in
such a panic, I just couldn’t see any answer.) When God inspired Jane to ask a
simple question, it was like a switch turned on, and instantly, I froze in
time. My shoulders relaxed, and I felt a unique pouring of peace over my whole
being. Yes, my old computer wasn’t completely broken, and I could still use it to
launch my blog. All the stress fell away, and I experienced perfect peace.
That’s God’s way! With just the flip of His heavenly
switch, He inspired Jane to ask a simple question in a quiet voice, and all
stress had to leave.
God’s kind of peace washed over me, pure and clear,
settling restfully on me and throughout my entire body. All the stabbing pains
of stress were like knives being pulled out and thrown far off in the distance.
There was not even a trace left behind. My mind and body felt like healing oil
had been poured over me, and God’s deliverance was complete. I had peace.
The Lord knows that Satan will try to talk us out of
maintaining our God-given peace in this world. Working through a trusted
Christian friend is one of the many ways the Lord used to restore that unique supernatural
peace.
John 16:33 tells us: “In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” When tribulation
comes, we need to catch ourselves as quickly as possible and remind ourselves
that Jesus overcame tribulation and stress with a supernatural peace of knowing
and claiming that we overcome panic with peace, because we are overcomers. Like
Jesus, we refuse to be victims of panic, stress, or fear brought on by Satan.
We are not to be “conformed to [the hurtful attacks of] this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
Even in bad situations, we call in peace, like Jesus did
with a boisterous storm on the lake of Galilee. He claimed the peace and it
came: “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, “Peace,
be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).
Join me in making a concerted effort to take a deep
breath and immediately claim “I have PEACE now!” when I catch myself starting
to get nervous, stressed out, fearful, or in a panic. Our heavenly Father, God,
gave us peace through the death and resurrection of His only begotten son,
Jesus, the Christ, and we have decided to give Him the honor and glory He
deserves. We embrace His PEACE now in every stressful situation, in the mighty
name of Jesus Christ, and we don’t let go!
Love, Carolyn
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