July 18: Of Peace Despite - not Because of - our Circumstances

1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34

Romans 4:13-5:5

Psalm 14:1-7

Proverbs 19:17

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

   They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind

   To see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

All have turned away, all have become corrupt;

   There is no one who does good, not even one.

- Psalm 14:1-3

For those of us here in my adopted country, the US, and in my home country, the Philippines, the first 3 verses of today's psalm seems like they were written thousands of years ago in anticipation of today.  Can you blame us, though?  Here, we have a pandemic, unemployment, violent protest, looting and rioting.  We have churches being destroyed, statues of our Savior being decapitated and desecrated.  In the Philippines we have the pandemic and unemployment as well, but there it seems it is the government doing the rioting and the looting.    

We aren't writing anything new; in fact, counting a week ago today, this is the third blog where we've referred to the difficulty and devastation taking place.  A week ago, we wrote about boldness.  Yesterday, it was about trust.  Today, we'd like to write about peace.    

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character; and character, hope.

- Romans 5:1-4

Now I don't know about you, but I find it easier to find peace when I understand the why of something, even when I don't like it.  The verse above helps me understand a little bit of what God is doing when things get tough.  

Turns out, suffering HAS purpose.  When we suffer, we could give up - or we could learn to keep going in bold faith and in bold trust, thereby increasing our capacity for faith and trust.  That, in turn, builds - as Merriam Webster puts it - "moral excellence and firmness".  And from there, we get to hope - which is the certainty of the fulfillment of God's promise even if we don't yet see it.  And if we know it's already coming - then we CAN have peace despite the problems of today. 

Father, we've prayed for boldness and trust.  Today we pray for peace.  Give us the ability to persevere, so that we might grow faith and hope, and realize Your promises are good, and they are true, and they will come to pass.  And when we know that, then give us the peace that surpasses all understanding - however difficult our circumstances.