His Perfect Peace

'Most of our life's perplexities arise when we are not able to understand the way God works or the things God allows in life' states Rev. Selwyn Hughes. How true this is when we each one of us reflect and see the reasons behind our tensions or anxiety.

How can we avoid unnecessary perplexities from rising in our hearts or bothering our minds? The Word of God offers a simple solution which however is difficult for many of us to implement it in our lives.

Isa 26:3 (NLT)

You will keep in perfect peace,

all who trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Perfect peace comes when we learn to trust that God knows what He is doing and He is working things for our good, though we may not be able to appreciate or understand the current events or happenings. As long as our thoughts are fixed on Him and we learn to acknowledge ourselves saying, "I know that my God is working all things for my good and I have left my worries into His hands", we cannot have that peace...

Suffering Lack

There is no human being in this world who may not suffer a lack. Lack can be in different forms. Finances, health, work, relationships, peace of mind, anything. And each of us present our requests to God in the form of prayer and many times as complaints. God is aware of our lack. He is aware of the lack that we want to be filled, as well the lack which we may not recognize and desire to be fulfilled.

Many times we may be pressing towards filling the lack which we want and be desperate about it. However, we forget that God has a better plan to fill that lack along with the lack which we have not recognized. For instance, we may be pressing towards a greater career while God may be planning to restore our lost years or even mature us along with the career growth.

The Word of God says,

James 1:2-4 (MSG)

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient (lack) in any way...

May we be patient until God works His plan for us knowing that He will fulfill the lack we suffer both that which we recognize and that which we do not...

What are we pursuing?

Most of our heartaches or emotional downs are because we do not get or see to happen what we expect. When what we are longing deeply or expecting earnestly does not come through it is natural for us to feel down.

Reverend Selwyn Hughes says that whether we realize it or not, we deeply crave for something in life. And it is for different things at different stages of life. 99% of us long to be happy by getting something or by doing something and when our deep cravings and expectations are not met we feel sad. Sadly, whatever we pursue runs away from us including happiness. The only easy way to get what we crave for or expect is not to pursue it...Sounds strange isn't it? But it is true. It is not wrong to desire something or expect something to happen but when we tend to pursue it strenuously we only find that we never get it or come to see it happen.

The Word of God emphasizes this truth beautifully in the Message translation

Matthew 6:32-33 (The Message)

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met".

What more do we need than this encouragement from His word? So do we decide to change our pursuing from things to God?...

No need for Remorse

Most of us when we look back into our lives, there are instances which we feel remorse about or regret for the decisions made. We sometimes think how foolish we had been trusting somebody so plainly. We come to realize that if we had been careful we wouldn't have been fooled by others. Deep inside whether we realize it or not, we tell God that He shouldn't have allowed us to be fooled. We feel that He should have stopped us from being fooled. We may also regret that God did not intervene during those times.

Rev. Selwyn Hughes says that we need to understand that "God loves us the same all the time and will not allow anything to happen to us unless it accords with a wise and a loving purpose". It may be difficult to accept it. However, there is a a truth in this statement. We cannot understand why sometimes God allows certain instances in our life that may be painful. Yet the God allows it for a redemptive purpose which we cannot comprehend fully. But as life goes and when we look back we will be able to connect the dots and be able to see it...

Romans 8:28 (The Message)

That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

His Purpose for Waiting

Rev. Selwyn Hughes state that God answers our prayers in four different ways. 'Yes', 'No', 'I will give you something better' and 'Wait and see what I will do'... The reverend says that among these answers, the fourth one is the most difficult as admitted by many of God's children because of waiting. And waiting simply by trusting that God will do something with regard to our prayer is difficult for many of us. One may wonder why God wants us to wait. It is because we will never mature unless we learn it the Lord's way.

If God were to answer all our prayers immediately, we will grow to become spiritual cry babies (when we do not get what we want) comments Rev. Selwyn Hughes. So God wants us to wait, trust His decisions and choices for us and receive answers that is good for us...

Isaiah 30:18 (New American Standard Bible)

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,

And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you

For the LORD is a God of justice;

How blessed are all those who long for Him.

Dealing it Right

Disappointments and discouragements are part of Christian life. Once we feel that we are all heading up the road, sometimes there may be halts, some sliding that make us wonder what has happened. We may be thinking that all is set and things are moving fine, only to meet up with a halt or slide.

However, we need to understand that God does not guarantee us a path of success throughout. Whatever be our life circumstance God wants us to look at life through His eyes for there is something to learn which cannot be learnt otherwise. Unless we learn this lesson we will be tossed and hurled like waves of the sea.

That is what exactly the Psalmist learnt from his life lesson, because of which he said:

Psalm 27:13 (New American Standard Bible)

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD

In the land of the living.

If the Psalmist had let loose his feelings, then he would have allowed his disappointments be turned to despair. But he did not do so. His feelings were dealt rightly with right kind of thinking and perspective because of which he saved himself from despair...

Restoration Specialist

Once a man shared with his fellow Christians how for years he had struggled to build his business but failed to get it going and earn steadily from it. He was encouraged by his Church mate who told him, that the Lord would bestow upon him doubly. He would get back the years that the locusts ate in double portion. The man was encouraged by this word and he started claiming this word for himself.

Joel 2:25 (New International Version)

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten...

I personally am a witness for this promise. I have seen the goodness of the Lord with regard to this promise both in my life and in the life of whom I prayed for...

Years of waiting can be painful especially when every step is met by failure after failure. Yet God is good to us and He is faithful to His promise. I have personally experienced how the years of failures and continuous disappointments has been replaced by the Lord in double measure. I can say with assurance that though our current troubles may appear big and years of waiting gruel-some, the Lord is watching and He is sure to replace the years the locusts has eaten in full measure. Amen.