Do you really trust Him? Part two

Now that we have covered the first part of the word eiréné, we can move on to the next part, which most people are most interested in.

And that is: How do I stay peaceful on the inner in times of trouble?

What I wrote in the previous article is deeply connected to the next step regarding staying peaceful amid problem(s), which I will address here.

In the first steps, we learn to trust God despite the problem, the inner torment, and the fear that is constantly lurking and even overtaking us at times. We learn to stay close to God, abiding in Him in times of difficulty, we learn that God is sovereign. We learn that despite the experience of fear, He is taking us through the problem(s). From all of this, we learn it has nothing to do with us. What I mean is, that we learn over and all, that God will take care of the problem(s), since we now have surrendered all to Him, here I do mean all. This is another requirement we learn in the first step: complete trust in Him. He will therefore make us surrender everything by leading us through circumstances that require a total surrender of everything.

We “show up” to the difficulties, and we face the problem(s), but how they are solved, we don’t know. We do all that is in our power, but the expected end of them is a move of God.

Back to how God deals with the problem(s) we face. He will not just fix it out of the blue, but He will merely lead us through the desert. A pictural reference related to “nothingness”, where we can’t find our way out, and it’s Him leading the way.

In daily life scenarios, it would mean He is asking us to do certain things, which in my experience at first often seem strange or something we can’t make any sense of. In the OT we find this occurrence taking place many times. This is called “learning to trust God completely, no matter what the physical circumstances look like”, no matter what God asks of us to see whether we would trust Him to lead us out of bondage. In this God is changing the spiritual atmosphere FIRST. Therefore, there might not seem to be a connection between the problem(s) and what God is asking us to do.

In the OT we find the story about how the Israelites should enter Jericho but before that could happen, they were told to march around the city for seven days in silence and on the last day to shout and blow the trumpets, and because of that the walls fell. (Joshua 6:1-27)

Seven is the number of completions which means God will allow the situation to be the same until the spiritual battle has been won first. This battle at Jericho is a pictorial reference to keep marching until there is reason for a shout of victory. It shaped faith within the men until the seventh day when there was a completion of faith to give the greatest shout of victory so that victory was for certain. The whole time during the six days they were not allowed to speak, no complaining, no slacking in words, no careless talk, nothing through words, because nothing was fitting for the situation, nothing but utter silence.

The things that He is asking us to do most certainly mean something. They are not just things He is asking of us, to see whether we would do them, but they are things where He is leading us out of bondage. They might not look like they have anything to do with the situation we’re in, but they do.

Another angle on this is we must also learn to trust Him even when things seemingly don’t turn around, even though we have been waiting for a long time for something to shift.  And there will be long periods of waiting before some things turn. A lot of purging takes place in these long periods of waiting. We realize this at the expected end of them. Way too many people give up and start doing their own and they miss out on the expected end from God. “The expected” end from God in this matter has everything to do with our relationship and our call of God later on.

Too often I find that we are too fixed on ourselves in our relationship with God. What can He do for me? When will I be free of this problem(s)? And so on.

God on the other hand is interested in that we may endure ´til the end. So that we may not be the seed that springs up and much to quickly die out, because we were too carnally lead.

God is always trying to shape people who can and will endure no matter how it feels on the inside.

So we can keep doing the holy acts before God at all times. No slacking no matter the circumstances, in the knowledge that He is with us and that it is to Him we do all things. We all want to be the faithful servant before God, but many don’t want to pay the price.

We should learn to walk with God through all seasons in life as mature spiritual adults, and not as a spoiled child who constantly needs consolation from God before we do anything for Him.

A complete surrender now equals a finalized trust in Him later.

There is always “a walking out” or “movement”, but we might not know the meaning of what He is taking us through in the middle of it.

This is called trust.

This is something very unique He is taking us through in those times of torment being in the desert and/or in the period of waiting.

First of all, we learn over some time, that the problem(s) are being solved and, each time we get purged to being able to receive the virtue of peace.

Let’s look at the rest of the meaning of the word eiréné. Again, this is the word that Jesus speaks when He talks about having peace in Him.

Other meanings of the word eiréné are this:

1) The sense of rest and contentment consequent thereon

2) The God of peace is a title used in several places in the NT. We find that the corresponding word in Hebrew is shalom primarily signifies “wholeness” “full” “finished” “made perfect”. In the Septuagint shalom is often rendered Soteria “salvation”, hence the peace offering is called the salvation offering.

So, by this, we can see that the word eiréné holds the inner completeness to the solution to our problem(s). It has an expected end when we are allowing God to work out the difficulties in our lives.

Another point to be taken into consideration is the fact that God is looking for somebody who will be the atoning sacrifice for the situation. Whatever the problem(s) may be. We are now the ones that carry the burden, paying the penance, and having the willingness to pay the price of salvation. We are called to take upon sufferings from another and in our own lives.

It seems to me, that when we are reaching this stage in our peace-walk, there comes a certain time when all of the old ways of reacting to problem(s) have finished. We now are so emptied that we can receive the virtue of peace in such a manner, that God is pouring this virtue into our hearts, which makes us unable to react through the carnal man in doubt and fear anymore. We might still feel them, but we don’t respond to them.

We don’t become stagnant or untouchable, no, we become peaceful, because we rest in peace in Him. This part we also grow in. We might start experiencing that we stop responding to situations/problems(s) the way we used to in some areas of our lives. We walk along the path of life, we find ourselves becoming constantly freed in ourselves in all areas of our lives.

We find ourselves immersed in the peace of God in such a way that the emotional faculties have stilled so that fear can no longer enter our hearts. This is where it shifts. Here we know that God has lifted His countenance upon our lives, by this we know we don’t walk into battle by ourselves, but that God our Lord Jesus, is walking before us, carrying out His plan for our lives.

The pictorial reference is this: when you were a child certain things scared you, but as you grew older you no longer are fearful of the same things as you were back then.

This is how we mature spiritually as well.