My last blog writing was on June 7, 2016. Writing seemed to come a bit easier before that day. Then I hit a place I had not experienced since October 10, 2014, my first posting. Some might call it “writer’s block.” I will say it has been more like re-entering the desert for a walk around the mountain. Retraining my thinking. Focusing on the source of peace.
A lot has happened in this world we live since the beginning of June, and the months just prior. Not a day goes by that evil does not rear it’s ugly head and wreaks havoc on unsuspecting recipients. On innocents. People just trying to take care of their families. Folks working at jobs to better their lives. Young people attending schools, studying to make a place and a difference in the world. Prayer meetings disrupted with unbelievable violence. A night out with friends ends in death and disbelief. Terrible things, often unbelievable things happening world wide. Lives snuffed out, right before our eyes, televised internationally for all to experience the horror.
We need to stay in tune to the world around us. I find nowhere in scripture that as believers we are directed to ignore and become passive about world events. Last time we did that, prayer was ushered out of the classroom. Now classrooms often become evening news events, more recognizable as war zones than institutions of learning. As I began walking around and around that mountain of God, once again experiencing the parched lands of the desert, my eyes saw it. The scripture I needed to turn me back to the rivers of water. God directed Moses to keep His children walking around that mountain for forty-years. A huge teaching experience. Learning the benefits to obedience to God was imperative. The consequence for not heeding…That generation would all die, never crossing over to the Promised Land. Scripture says in all those years their shoes and clothes did not wear out. He provided just enough of everything needed to live. Food, water, clothes, a leader and instruction in the laws of God and His Holiness. He still does a one on one step back to Egypt so He can remind me of a few very important things.
John 14;27
“Peace I leave you with, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Words of Jesus spoken to his disciples the night before he was crucified. There is excellent advice in this scripture. Peace then and now did not and will not, come from the world. The garden event removed any hopes of peace in the world. Real peace, sustaining peace, comes from one source. I knew that from my own life experiences. I found that peace at the bedside of four people who lived with me growing up. My parents and two younger sisters, all leaving for their eternal homes, way too early. That peace came at the bedside of my husband and two heart events. It came during the disappointments that come from living life. It is that peace that I try but cannot adequately explain, that comes when you stand before a storm…A Goliath, that looms so large, it seems you cannot possibly overcome. Yet, peace steps in and takes over.
We need to pay attention to the world without joining the world. Be active in pursuing goodness and speaking of the storm overcoming peace that Jesus brings just before, during and after the storms of life. Be vigilant about our beliefs, not allowing the mention of our Savior to be ridiculed, abolished and tainted, without uttering a sound. We need to be lions now, not passive sheep.
This is not my first time around the mountain. It probably will not be my last. It is not my first experience with letting what the world is doing affect me and take my peace. I will say, that each time I emerge from the desert, it gets harder and harder to let go of my peace. There is strength in the desert walk throughs of life.
After my family and several of my extended family and friends passed away, I had a charm added to a bracelet, I wear everyday. On it is inscribed, Psalm 3:1. It was the scripture in my June 7th post. I strayed away from the comfort it brings, until today, when I read it again. A reminder that staying close to Jesus is like a tree planted along the river. It has constant nourishment. A nourished plant produces fruit. I am still working on that part, not producing near what I should be. That plant will not wither. Even though the heat beats down and the wind tries to take its life, the continual nourishment from the source of living water keeps it cool in the heat, prospering, even in a world of storms.
~Scripture For Today~
Psalm 3:1
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. KJV
Try inserting your name into this verse. Proclaim it for yourself and speak it over those you hold dear, and for our country. There is no lasting peace, if our source is the world.
~Prayer For Today~
Hello Father! Thank You for taking me back around that mountain. Long walks through the desert, thinking about all that I know to be true about You and Your beloved Son. For Your words that leap off the pages of my Bible, just when I need the encouragement. I pray that all who are fearful, that are facing their Goliath’s, that have lost their peace, will find it in You, in Your Word and in Your Son. Forgive us when we doubt Your faithfulness. Forgive us our sinful ways. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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