September 7

“....God can give us peace even during the hours of great weeping and pain and heartbreak.  He can do this because He is always with us.  God’s peace and comfort and strength in time of trouble are not gifts from God, given out as we give gifts.  They are God Himself.” Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 9/4

This is a distinction that we must realize before we can fully trust God.  This is why I am disturbed to hear a Christian pray for God to “be with” them or their loved ones.  We do not have to ask God for this.  If we are asking for assurance, we are telling God He can’t be trusted.  What we are really praying for without realizing it is for us to be aware that God is with us.  What is so wonderful about realizing that God gives Himself to us rather than just giving us a peaceful state is that it takes our focus off the result and puts it on the Giver.  If the gift were the peace itself, I’d define that peace based on my past experience.  Or if I have a grand imagination, I’d base it on some pie-in-the-sky expectation.  I’d be so focused on my own idea of peace that I could very easily miss God’s peace.  By understanding that it is God Himself who has been given to me, then as I focus on God, who does not change,  I will experience His Peace, His Love, His Power, and His Strength to the fullest degree possible because God is all these things.

“If you then, who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  Luke 11:13