09/10
Finding Peace
"I can't wait for ____"
We've been saying this our whole lives. Remember when we were younger? We would say, "I can't wait to get to this grade" or "I can't wait to get my license" or "I can't wait to go to college." It feels like a universal theme for everybody at some point. Sometimes, this isn't a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with being excited about what's next in life. Where it goes wrong is when the anticipation for what's next steals your peace from now.
How do we not allow the anticipation for the future to steal our peace right now?
Have you felt the pressure or weight that you're not where you're supposed to be? Maybe your parents are telling you one thing, or everyone else is saying you should be doing something else?
In the Bible, King David wasn't always King David. Before he was King David, he was just a shepherd boy, and before that, he was just the youngest son. To make a long story short, the prophet Samuel showed up one day and anointed David as the king of Israel.
Remarkably, 15-20 years passed before David sat on the throne. David was anointed king, but it would be somewhere between 15-20 years before he actually became king over Israel!
Imagine the anticipation and excitement David must have had for what God had planned for him. Yet, David modeled how to live with peace and honor as he waited for what the Lord had anointed him to do.
For most of this time, as David waited, he was secretly and then publicly hunted by King Saul. Even in these difficult circumstances, David chose to honor God and those in authority.
How do we not allow the anticipation for the future to steal our peace right now?
Have you felt the pressure or weight that you're not where you're supposed to be? Maybe your parents are telling you one thing, or everyone else is saying you should be doing something else?
In the Bible, King David wasn't always King David. Before he was King David, he was just a shepherd boy, and before that, he was just the youngest son. To make a long story short, the prophet Samuel showed up one day and anointed David as the king of Israel.
Remarkably, 15-20 years passed before David sat on the throne. David was anointed king, but it would be somewhere between 15-20 years before he actually became king over Israel!
Imagine the anticipation and excitement David must have had for what God had planned for him. Yet, David modeled how to live with peace and honor as he waited for what the Lord had anointed him to do.
For most of this time, as David waited, he was secretly and then publicly hunted by King Saul. Even in these difficult circumstances, David chose to honor God and those in authority.
David's Example of Honor
In 1 Samuel 24:9-10, we see David's response to Saul:
"Then David said to Saul, 'Why do you listen to the words of people who say: 'Look, David is seeking to do you harm'? Look, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh gave you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you. But I took pity on you and said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, because he is Yahweh's anointed one.'"
David honored Saul because it wasn't his time yet. David was still going to honor God in the season of waiting for what was next. God is often working more in us then we know. In season where we feel like we are ‘waiting’ know that God is not wasting. God does not waste any season to continue to mold and shape us for our good and his glory.
Finding Peace in Your Current Season
Finding peace with where you are right now starts with knowing God has you where you're supposed to be.
God graces us for the season we're in. Often, fear and anxiety happen when we're living in tomorrow with God's grace for today. Sometimes we lose our peace today because we can't imagine how we're going to operate in that 'next thing,' even if we're excited about that season. Know that today you're NOT graced for the next 'thing.' But when the day comes, YOU WILL BE graced for it.
As we read in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
And remember, as Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Trust in God's timing, embrace your current season, and find peace in knowing that His grace is sufficient for today.
God graces us for the season we're in. Often, fear and anxiety happen when we're living in tomorrow with God's grace for today. Sometimes we lose our peace today because we can't imagine how we're going to operate in that 'next thing,' even if we're excited about that season. Know that today you're NOT graced for the next 'thing.' But when the day comes, YOU WILL BE graced for it.
As we read in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
And remember, as Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Trust in God's timing, embrace your current season, and find peace in knowing that His grace is sufficient for today.