Peace of God, Part 2

John 10:19, "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you!" (NIV)

There are some situations of my life that I more easily release into the Hands of God.  But there are also those challenging moments in which I know that I need to place that situation in the Hands of God but I struggle with a control issue.  I feel better if I can just keep the situation close to me so that I can help God handle whatever needs to be handled.  I don't mean to take this action but I want to be prepared to assist God if necessary.  Now I already know that God does not need my assistance but I want to be prepared to provide any help that He might need.  Have you ever prayed for a certain request and made sure that you included your desired answer for that request in your prayer?  I know that I have been guilty of offering that type of assistance to God.  But the true peace of God affords us the opportunity to place our full assurance and confidence in the fact that God is working His will and way for my life.  I may not always feel and see His hands in action but I can trust His heart that reveals His love for me. 

I must not allow my desire to be in control of my life hinder the work and process of God.  The peace of God allows me to release those stressful moments into the Hands of God and realize that He has the power and ability to meet the need that I am facing.  I must stop grasping for control of my life.  My desire to be in control of my life can be very counterproductive to the plan that God has outlined for me.  The more I manipulate and grasp for control, the more anxious I become.  The more anxious that I become, the more I look for man-made solutions to the circumstances.  The more I look for man-made solutions, the more my decisions are driven by the flesh and not led by the Spirit.  I must resist the temptation to walk in the strength of the flesh and allow the Holy Spirit to release direction into my daily life.  Trusting in the flesh may provide some temporary solutions to our difficulties but we must continue to seek for God's directives to be accomplished in our life.  Instead of grasping for control of our lives we must be willing to open our hands to God and release the matters of our life into His Hands.  God also asks us to open our mind and heart to Him so that He can speak the peace that we need.  The opening of our heart and mind to God allows us to become aware of the presence of God.  The recognition of the presence of God allows us to receive the peace of God that will bring the rest and assurance that we need.  We need to take the approach to God much the same way that a young child takes the approach to grasping the hand of their parents.  The young child places his/her small hand into the larger hand of their parents and in doing so they express confidence in their parents.  Rest assured you can place your confidence in God!