God Wants You To Have Inner Peace

  In the book of Proverbs we are told to guard our hearts, because out of it comes the issues of life.  What issues are you facing today.  When our circumstances get desperate, the issues that are in our OWN heart begin to rise to the surface.  God does not want us to have a heart that is dominated by worries, anxieties, frustrations, anger or self pity.

1 Peter 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.

  God wants us to have a heart that is dominated by God's love.  When we have the idea that our circumstances are going to have to change before we can be joyful, we are letting or circumstances dictate to us what life will be for us.   How are we going to have a heart after God's own heart?  By casting all of our cares on him.   Moses  had a big problem.   There was a big sea in his way.  There are times that we think that everything would be OK, if we could only get this problem out of our way.  Getting that sea out of the way only lead to ANOTHER problem...a desert without water.  We look at our current problem and think if only I could get this problem to go away...but when it goes away, it just opens us up into another situation, another problem.  This is how some have been living from day to day, year to year.  Fix one problem run into another.  You keep waiting for the problems to go away, so that you can finally have peace and soundness of mind, but they NEVER go away.  Problems just keep coming, and coming, and coming.  

The book of Hebrews says that they failed to enter into God's rest:

Hebrews 3:7Therefore (as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you will hear his voice,

8Harden not your hearts, as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness:

9When your fathers tested me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

10Therefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

11So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

So we see that the worst kind of unbelief is disobedience to God's voice.    In the wilderness they had a lot of problems and stress, the Bible says they all died there, so they faced death nearly everyday.   It was 40 years of walking in circles and funerals.  It was not pleasant at all.   God said they erred in their hearts through unbelief because of their disobedience they did not get to enter into God's rest.   How much of the stress and strife and drama in your life right now is the result of poor choices where you violated God's Word?   God hasn't abandoned you, just as God did not abandon them in the wilderness, but they never had inner peace, they never were able to enter into God's rest.     The good news is there is still a promise of entering into his rest.  God wants you to have inner peace and what blocks that peace inside of your life?    Trauma from our past can block our inner peace.   Regrets of things we have done to hurt ourselves and others can block out inner peace.   Jealousy because others got things we wanted without near as much effort or because they cheated can block our inner peace.   Fear that things are not going to work out to our good as God has promised can block our inner peace.  Overspending and materialism can block our inner peace.   Insecurities, fears, selfishness, worry, jealousies, these things lead to pride, anger and depression and can destroy our inner peace.  

All throughout the Bible God is teaching us how to overcome these very things but few will listen.  Instead of letting the Word of God change them, they continue to live as they please and then pray that God would give them the miracle of inner peace.   That is like punching yourself in the nose all the time and then asking God to stop the bleeding.    He could do that, but would it teach you not to punch yourself in the face?   We do things that are absolutely destroying ourselves on the inside like jealousy, worry, addictions, gossip, selfishness, perversions of all sorts and then we wonder why we have no peace.  I know this is a tough word, but it is time for the body of Christ to grow up.  

You may say, "But how do I keep myself from doing those things?"  You are SANCTIFIED by the Word of God and by prayer.   To be Sanctified means to be set apart unto God.   Set apart from what?  From the world.  Why would we want to do that?  Because walking in this world is not the thing that hurts us.  In the long run it is when the world gets INSIDE us that hurts us.  Sanctification won't take you OUT of the world, it will take the WORLD out of you.    The world is full of lust, panics, fears, mistrust, doubt, hatred, strife, envy, selfishness...and it is impossible to have inner peace and enter into the rest of God with these things active inside our hearts.  

Someone may argue, "But there is much good in the world too."  The Bible says that are none that are good but God, there is nothing truly good in this World that does not come from the Father above.   This world and all that it has to offer is passing away.  Do not invest your life in the things of this world, but invest your life in the things of God and lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.   

You can spend a life time building a home, with a nice yard, only to have an earthquake devastate it in one day, and the insurance company deny your claim!  You may spend a life time taking care of your body, only to have sickness or an accident take it in an instant.   You could spend hours learning how to play a sport, only to have one injury take your ability to play forever.   The things of this world are passing away.  We chase after those things and then live in fear, panic, strife all the time  because those things are so fragile.    They are not a good investment of your time, talents and treasures.  Invest your life in the Kingdom, obey God's Word and enter into the rest of God and enjoy inner peace.  Allow God to Sanctify your life and set you apart for his purposes.   When you do these things you will find that everything else that you need is added unto you.