Welcome to Welling for your spiritual well-being and your ministry overflowing for your spiritual health and your spiritual growth.
At about midnight is when I catch up on my news as I scroll through offerings in the times of the world. You heard me say earlier in the series that we live in volatile times and uncertain times and complicated times and ambiguous times. They call it a VUCA world. I also read the newspaper, which has times in its title, the New York Times or the Epoch Times or The Times of India or the Financial Times.
There’s an old line that says if you’re open to the sports section first of the news, that means you are sports-minded. If you go to the business sections of the news, you’re business-minded. If you go to the front pages of the news, you lose whatever mind you once had. These are difficult times. And peace is lacking. Whether it is war around or diseases around or economic upheaval and social challenges, there is a lot of times that we face.
In these difficult times we face, there is a beautiful gift that the apostle Paul gives us. Because the Thessalonians were facing similar times. They were a minority culture. The majority was pressing against them. They were facing persecution. They had challenges inside the church. And together, they had to face outside the church their very existence, their values were all questionable. They were pressured. They could only look to the future to a final judge will set all things right.
In the previous epistle of First Thessalonians, he actually talked about us being caught up in the air not as an escapist time but as a reward to be with the Lord whom we loved. And until that time, the God of peace will keep us, sanctify us, preserve us, and complete in us what he started because faithful is the one who’s called you. Who He will do it. But until then 2 Thessalonians 3:16, our key verse our anchor verse brings his assurance, his promise, his wish, his prayer for all of us. May the Lord of peace himself continually at all times grant you peace in every circumstance all times in all things.
There is a Greek word there, which is repeated all, all just like peace, peace and Lord, Lord repeated in that short verse to tell us that God is comprehensively and continuously active. And he’s consistently able to give us the peace that we need in all things. The word things is a generic word. We use it sometimes with people whom we love who know us very well. And they understand exactly what we mean in every range and reference that we make and things even though we don’t define it in this place here.
However, he’s talking about the comprehensive nature of the Lord of peace who will give you peace. He’ll give you peace in them and give you peace through them. He’ll take you through peace in all things the second oldest of all times. What times are you facing? I’m talking more than the newspapers I read but about the matter is that the newspapers I read referred to. These are challenging times.
I know we cannot have circumstantial peace. But you can have peace in the circumstance. I know we cannot have existential peace. But we can have peace in our existence. Why? Because of the Lord of peace who saw every circumstance and who can be in your existence. The Lord’s presence is the cause of the Lord’s peace in your life. Until the time when he comes back as the Prince of Peace, he can give you peace now with the presence of peace.
The peace of God Jesus can be the peace you experience in God Jesus. Receive it. It’s a gift. Tonight as you go to sleep, just rehearse it. In all things and at all times, I have your peace.