REF NO: 016
John 14:27, KJV: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
PEACE AMID THE STORMS
I have grown to fall in love with "Ewe" names and their meanings just as I love the Yurobas and Igbo names in Nigeria because of the special meanings, attributes and relevance attached to them. One of these "Ewe" names I love is, "Fafali" which means "there is peace".
The "Ewes" are a very powerful ethnic group from the Volta region of Ghana.
Do not fear the unknown, commit the future into the hands of the Almighty. He knows the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. Now He is saying to you, "beloved, do not be afraid of your tomorrow, for I am already there".
In this passage, Christ encourages His followers to keep their "hearts" from fear and trouble. But what seems chiefly designed here, is peace with God, which Christ is the sole proprietorship and author of.
Not knowing" brings its own kind of terror.
Experience is the best teacher. Coming in contact with what hat you have experienced and walkover is not as scary as what is unknown that will confront you. It is not that people fear to die, they haven't been dead before and don't know how it looks like or how it is for someone to die.
They don't have experience of death and cannot tell what will happen to them of where they are going or what is going to happen to them at their back when they die and leave their friends, families and loved ones behind. That is basically what every man is afraid of and wouldn't want to die.
Experience makes people less nervous to drive cars, fly in airplanes, endure thunderstorms, or receive medical injections. The experiences, themselves, don't change. What changes is the person's expectations—they know what is happening, and what will happen next. That brings confidence and greatly reduces fear. It brings peace.
The fear of the unknown and the uncertainties of the future or what will happen to us in the future can be really scary especially when we consider the events of happenings in our lives and countries. Far scarier when we consider the difficulties, hardships, disappointments and situations that confront us in the past, present and unknown.
The fear of losing our life or the life of a dear one, the fear of losing our livelihood or some kind of bad omen or calamity that might befall us.
The cares and uncertainties of this life and what may happen to us tomorrow is a horror movie for mankind. Not forgetting to mention, the fear of getting married, the fear of not yet married or not finding a suitable life partner, the fear of people mounting pressure on you and telling you that you are ageing and you need to conjure marriage from the sky at once by force or forget it and get expired.
Will I even conceive when I get married, the fear of going childless after marriage? Your mother in law and other folks mounting pressure on you to conceive after a couple of years in marriage and the fear of not being able to conceive and have your own--children in the future are just nightmares.
You are ageing, you need to find a partner and get married. Yes, I am ageing and the truth of the reality is, no man is approaching me for marriage. I am unable to find a suitable woman. Oh my God, will I ever get married and will I ever have my own--children? Will, I ever get someone to marry me or get married to because I am not getting any younger? I am ageing and I am getting weaker and weaker every day.
All my agemates are married and which younger generation will get married to me when the age intervals between us are just huge? I need to get married to an older man but definitely--not my father's age or twice my father's age because a man younger than me is a no-no-no for me. Will I get someone of my dream to start my own--family with?
Will I ever pass my exams? Will I ever get a school and a job? Will business work? I'm so scared to start this business, I am so scared to invest into this business or embark on this venture.
This dream is beyond me. I am do scared of the report from my doctor. Will I ever be well again or remain with this sickness for the rest of my life? Shall I die and leave my children? Who will take care of them in case I am no more?
I am Stating for a fact, the relevant issues of life are too many to mention all but the little I've raised here would help you to ask your own questions that are relevant to your fears.
"...let not your heart be troubled";
at my departure from you, since I leave such peace with you:
"...neither let it be afraid":
at the dangers, you may be exposed unto, and the trouble you may be exercised with; for in the midst of them all, "in me ye shall have peace", ( John 16:33).
What can help you to go through the storms of life is peace. This peace is not just any ordinary peace but God's peace. It is the peace that only Jesus can give, nobody else.
It is called inward peace... The inner peace that buttresses fears of the unknown. Are you ready for this peace? You already have it because Jesus said He has left you with this peace already. All you need is to identify this peace and access it to your benefit.
Who Is This Peace?
The peace that Christ offers is not like that of the world. The best we can expect from the natural world is unfairness, disappointment, injustice, promise and failure, bribery and corruption, deceitful lies and death. (Romans 8:20; James 4:14; Psalm 73:3).
What He calls for here is not for Christians to stone-faced and inhuman. Rather, it's to acknowledge sufferings while at the same time trusting in God to make good and deliver on His ever sure unfailing and refreshing promises. Selah!
Christ being about to die and leave his disciples makes his last will, and as the best legacy, he could leave them, bequeaths peace unto them. That peace is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost is God's peace to us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 14:26 - But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you
John 15:26 - But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 16:13 - Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The Holy Spirit is the minister for peace in the peace council of Heaven on Earth. He is the chief executive officer of the divine programming on earth with the special ministry of making life comfortable for God's children here on earth.
The work of the Holy Spirit peace officer in chief is to usher us from all life's discomforts and to make life meaningfully peaceful and comfortable for us. Acknowledge the presence and ministry of the Holy Ghost today as the peace of God and always ask for His help and guidance to find peace and comfort as you grow through the storms of life. The Holy Spirit is our peace amid the storms.
We are not to keep this peace alone to ourselves but to share it with the entire world. Jesus left us with the gospel of peace to be preached by us to all men, which is the declaration and public announcement of peace by His blood, death on the cross and the power of resurrection. It is the means of reconciling men back to God through the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, the eternal mediator for our peace through the great supervision and enablement of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 6:31, NIV: "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
According to Reference, if worry was ever a good option, it would be when the circumstances of our lives are at their worst. Isn't it time to start worrying if you don't know where your next meal or clothing is coming from? If not then, when?
That's part of Jesus' point in this passage. If that is not a good time to be fearful (Matthew 6:25), it means there is never a good time to be fearful. For the people who call God Father, worry is never the appropriate response to life. Human nature tempts us to fear and to have anxiety, but it's not how God wants us to feel. As unrealistic as that sounds to many of us, that's the level of confidence He wants His disciples and listeners to have in their Father in heaven. It's a matter of trusting both God's ability and His willingness to provide for us.
Jesus has taught that God is both able and willing. We know God can provide because He feeds birds and dresses flowers. We know God is willing, Jesus has said, because His children are far more valuable to Him than birds and flowers (Matthew 6:26–29). Will we trust Him with the most basic, bottom-line questions of life?
According to Hebrews 13:8, the Prince of Peace is the Lord of our past, present and future. He is our perfect peace when trouble blows, looms and engulfs us from the circumstances of our past, present condition and impending future.
He is our peace! When sorrows near, He Jehovah Elroi sees and hears. He is the King of the flood and can quench the evil flames. He can calm the troubled mind. Lift your voice right now to worship Him, call upon Him to step into your situation of marriage, health, finances etc. Do you need the fruits of the womb? Is there anything troubling your soul? Invite the Comforter right now.
You cannot fear the future, neither can you be afraid of the unknown when you have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as your peace and comfort amid the storms of life. Shalom Aleichem!
©Oasis WordBank
