Will you be disturbed?

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) Boy, we sure understand the 'trials and sorrows' part, don't we? Look around you just about anywhere and you will see wildfires taking down whole towns, people going berserk over who knows what, and one 'bad news day' after another. This world knows very little peace - it knows of warfare, misgivings, poorly behaving people, and threats beyond measure, but very little of the nightly news tells us of the great peace mankind is experiencing.

Peace is a person - when we meet that person, we truly understand peace. The person? Christ himself. The way to him? Ask him to reveal himself to you and in you. There are all kinds of ways mankind goes about attempting to find some form of peace in this world, but just as Jesus told his disciples that day, peace is not an 'earthly' thing. It is a divine thing! Once we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we finally realize there is no true peace apart from him. We can walk through all kinds of ugliness and hardship on this earth, but still be in 'perfect peace'. How? By leaning into the person of peace.

Jesus reminds us he overcomes everything that attempts to disturb 'perfect peace'. Artificial peace is the best the world can offer. All the trials and sorrows of this world don't stand a chance where Christ's Spirit dwells. When we come to Christ, guess what? His Spirit dwells within us! That ensures 'perfect peace' is 'resident' within us no matter where we go or what we face. If you have ever had one attack after another, you soon realize all Satan is up to with those attacks is a feeble attempt to disturb Christ's indwelling Spirit. Remember that peace is not the absence of chaos - it is the condition of facing chaos with confident determination the battle has already been done on the matter!

Jesus wanted his disciples to realize what was about to happen as the end of his earthly ministry was nearing. As he described the impending 'changes' to his physical presence with them, he assures them his presence would always be there, but the 'form' of that presence was soon to change. It would not be physical any longer - it would be the indwelling of the Spirit of God. Do you think he wants us to face chaos, trial, or sorrow with any less 'knowledge'? Absolutely not! In fact, he wants us to stand assured, being confident of his presence, and then 'soldier on' - even when the fires roar and the accusers bellow. Just sayin!