Purposeful, Yet Peaceful

"Peace I leave with you, 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."  John 14:27 (NKJV)

Perhaps you are like me-  crazy busy.  I have always subscribed to my mom's philosophy "I'd rather work a day to death, than see it die of natural causes." But even I will admit that I often allow busy-ness to leach the beauty and joy out of my day.  I allow the clutter of life- emails, phone calls, texts, homeschooling, ministry, family responsibilities- to drive me through my day, rather than me intentionally steering my day.

I sometimes imagine Jesus walking the earth like me... and I get tickled, imagining His mad rush, giving Peter and John an anxiety disorder.  Can't see it?  Me either!  I believe Jesus was purposeful, yet peaceful.  I believe He did the important without ever drowning out the quiet communion He walked in.  Always remaining and resting in the presence of His Father.

It is my prayer that today I will walk in purposeful peace.  That I will be led by peace, not by a schedule.  That I will perform the important and not only the urgent.  I pray that I will be salt and light to all I meet.

Will you agree in prayer with me?

Dear Lord, I ask that you will enable Your church to be powerful, purposeful, and yet peaceful.  Soothe the troubled souls today and apply your balm of healing and perfect rest.  In the mighty Name of Jesus I ask these things.  Amen.

© Sherri Evans Ministries 2017. All rights reserved. Used by permission. For booking schedule and information: sherrievans@sherrievansministries.com

Quiet and Restored

 

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul..." Psalm 23: 1-3a

 

I love the imagery of this passage of Scripture. Lying down in green pasture shows a place of rest in God's provision.  Being led by quiet waters, allows me to satisfy my thirst in safety and tranquility, and then He does the ultimate...He restores my soul.  He brings it back to its former luster, to its peak condition.  Wow!

Life is full of seasons, some of  peace and some of tumult.  Times of hurting, and times of healing. Times of quiet and times of noise.  Times of stress and times of relaxation.  If there was not the antithesis to our hard times, we would all go insane!

Lately the Lord has been stretching me through a lot of stressful situations for which there seems to be no reprieve.  Since God  is not the author of confusion and disorder, I am continually try to find Him in the middle of what is happening and align myself with His outlook and His approach to problem-solving.  This occurs with varying degrees of success on my part.

When  the stresses of life begin to ravage my peace, I often find myself praying, "Lord, restore my soul."  I have been taught that our soul is our mind, will and emotions.  My spirit can be resting safely in God while my mind, will and emotions are being hammered by negative feelings such as anger, impatience, distrust and fear.  When I need an overhaul of my soul, there is only one place to turn.  God is the only one who can bring rest to a frenzied mind.   He is the only one who can speak peace to the storms of my life.  He is the only one who can satisfy my thirst for more of Him, while protecting me from my own feelings of desperation.

God is  still God in the dark night of our soul.  He is still loving and powerful when others are hateful and thoughtless. He is gentle and tender when life is harsh and abrasive.

We all face opposition, trials and struggles.  Some are without- brought on by other people or circumstances.  Others are within- brought on by our own weaknesses and fears.  It matters not.  Either way, he is the God of restoration. 
I join the psalmist in my cry, "Yes, my  soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him." (Psalm 62:5)

Dear Lord, thank you that you have made provision for my every need- spiritual, physical, emotional and material.  Restore my soul, O God.  Quiet my soul and grant me rest, for my hope is in You.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri

 

The Loop

 

 

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  Philippians 4:13

 

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?  For weeks now, my life has been a series of deadlines and stressful events.  All the while, the lyrics of Matthew West's "Strong Enough" continued to resound in my heart and head: " I can do all things through Christ who give me strength and I don't have to be strong enough..."  It was like a constant loop.

Sometimes when a song is stuck in my head, it is one I despise and I get so sick of hearing it.  Not this time!  It is like the Lord was singing it as encouragement over me.  I was not equal to the tasks that lay before me.  All of it was bigger, more stressful and entirely more complicated that I could do within myself.  But over and over again, I noticed him giving me the grace, prompting me to take this step here, delete this practice there, and the next thing you know, I was done!  I had met all of my deadlines- and with a reasonable amount of success.

Why do we ever try to tackle the demands of this life in our own strength?  Perhaps every generation has felt this way, but I personally feel that as time is winding down and the soon return of Christ is imminent, times are simply getting harder.  It seems more people are sick; hurting; depressed; oppressed and overwhelmed. Some of it is because of the crazy, hectic schedules we keep.  But I am also convinced that as the days become more evil, life is just more difficult to live.

As we "occupy until He comes" we are going to have to draw upon his grace and strength to live in victory through these perilous days.  Does it look impossible?  Is it harder and more difficult than you have the strength to endure?  Be encouraged.  You can do all He wants you to...  In His strength.  You do not have to be strong enough!

Dear Lord, help me to learn how to cast my care on you.  Show me when I am operating in my own strength and help me to draw instead on your strength.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri

Still

“He says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Psalm 46:10

 

It is officially the holiday season.  I know this because our family has five parties to attend between now and next Sunday.  What a hectic, busy, and stressful time of year.  Like many of you I have lists for several areas of my life that I’m working off of:  family responsibilities, church commitments, work deadlines, holiday celebrations, preparations and of course, shopping! 

Needless to say, “being still and knowing that He is God” is pretty difficult to pull off at this time.  And yet I hear Him beckoning me to still myself and know Him.  To be aware of Him, to acknowledge His presence, to seek His face.  All of the other things on my list are important, but being with God is urgent and pivotal to everything else working.  I am trying to cultivate the ability to have a stillness of heart, mind and spirit, even while I have a frenzy of body.

Recently, I had a bit of a personal health scare.  Thank the Lord, everything ended up being all right, but for those six days when I experienced uncertainty, things in life got quite a bit simpler for me.  All of a sudden job stress did not matter as much as hope for a future with my family.  Life is so precious and fragile.  We are only ever a moment away from eternity.  That is what truly matters and we must live like it matters.  We have to take control of our life and activities and say, I am going to be still and know that He is God.  I am going to put Him in proper perspective and everything else will fall into place.

Dear Lord, help me still my mind.  Help me to be attuned to your still, small voice.  Help me to focus on you and trust you to do through me what I need to accomplish.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri

Trouble in the World

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

 

When you read this verse, don’t you find yourself nodding in agreement?  Yep, in this world I have trouble.  Lots of it.  Too much of it.  We all do. Trouble seems to be part and parcel for this world.  I know every generation has experienced sickness, disease, heartache, loss, stress and lack.  But it seems to me that the times are becoming more and more perilous.  I believe this will continue to be the case, and increasingly so, until the Lord returns.  This world is gearing up for the soon return of Christ to collect His people unto himself.

Times are hard and appear to be getting harder.  Where is the hope in that?  This verse supplies much of the hope we need.  In Him you may have peace.  In the world there is trouble; in Christ there is peace!  Oh, that I should remain in Christ!  I am not saying that Christians will never experience problems or trouble, but I believe this verse promises that when we face stuff, if we can not get in the flesh, but rather, stay in Him, we can enjoy peace despite what goes on around us.

Take heart!  Look up!  Believe for good things.  He has overcome the world.  In the world is trouble, but he has overcome the world.  Would that not lead you to believe that he has overcome trouble as well?  He has overcome everything and put it under His feet when he defeated Satan at Calvary.  We still have battles to fight, issues to address and life to live as long as we are on this earth.  But our hope, our victory, and our peace can be found and experienced in Him, who has overcome every problem we now face.

I do not know what challenges you face today. Perhaps you are dealing with family issues, financial issues, work stress or health problems.  These very real problems are a real nuisance and if we let them be, they are peace-stealers as well.  I do not wish to in any way minimize the seriousness of your situation.  But I do want to offer you encouragement today that you are not facing a problem that Jesus did not deal with himself while he lived on earth.  He knows your pain.  He sees how you struggle.  He cares and He loves you.  He has made provision for you so that you can experience peace in him.  Therefore, we can take heart.  He has indeed overcome the world.

Dear Lord, I pray for my friends today and ask that you manifest yourself and your peace to them in a personal way.  Bring comfort and encouragement, and renew hope.  Thank you for overcoming everything so that we may have victory in you.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen. 

Sherri