The first thing I did on my vacation from blogging was…
write a blog post, which became two, which would have grown into more, had I not screeched the flowing words to a halt!
Couldn’t tear myself away, right?
Well, maybe, but I had “good reason”—two good reasons, actually: two Mueller post comments, questioning the peace it talked about.
So, before going on with anything else, let’s consider the questions at the top of this page, about that peace—in three parts…
Part One: Hard Obedience to Clear Commands
Mueller’s “method,” the post pointed out, was for deciding “among morally neutral choices… beyond obeying the principles of scripture.” In many matters of life we don’t need such a process because the Bible clearly points out God’s definite will, in His specific black-and-white commands. All we have to do in these cases is obey the commands.
Simple.
Yet often so hard!
Obeying some of them can grate unpleasant, run counter to our nature, even terrify. We may have anything but nice peaceful feelings about it. Yet we need to obey, just the same.
I found myself summoned to such a task a couple years ago. To walk obedient to the Bible’s instructions I had to do something that every fiber in me screamed out against. I spent the whole day literally trembling about it, wrestling with God, declaring,
“Lord, I can’t do this!”
“I don’t want to do this!”
“Please take this away!”
“Isn’t there some other way?”
I wanted God to tell me I didn’t have to, but I knew what His word already said, and there was no doubt: I needed to surrender or be downright rebellious!
I finally did (surrender), and He carried me amazingly through the situation—though it was still anything but pleasant.
Actually, at the point of confrontation to which obedience took me, an amazing calm swept over me, and flowed me through the whole ordeal. This had to be God’s Spirit (or else state of shock from stress!) Clearly it was answered prayer, my own and that of knowing friends.
But that incredible serenity only kicked in at the last hour. The whole day leading up to it was an agony of inner turmoil in which I couldn’t calm down, couldn’t sit still, couldn’t even eat.
It felt like Gethsemane, although I hated to compare it to that! What Christ had to face was so much worse. Yet my emotional struggle was similar, and came to its resolution in similar surrender to the Father’s will.
With that surrender came a different kind of peace than the later inner calm. What lay ahead still looked dreadful, but my mind had settled into the rest of trusting Him.
The point is that though I certainly didn’t have blissful emotions about it, I did have settled assurance in my mind as to what I must do! I think this is more what Muller meant than an emotional state in any case.
More about that in a later post.
Dear Sylvia,
Now that I am about 8 weeks into my orientation, I can say that what you mentioned in your comment section of the Mueller blog is so true. We seek Him for the decision and then go about our merry way in the every-day-ed-ness of the ‘doing’, and that may well be where out peace dissipates. This orientation is so very intense for me, however, that I cling to Him every moment and He has sent His patient angels, my coworkers, to see me through. He promised that when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death He would be with us. I have experienced this in this new situation. I sometimes feel like my brain is dying and I just can’t get the sequence of what I am supposed to do, but He is there in the faces of Vicki, Sharon and Joan. I have been blessed so that peace can come. I just have to accept His grace through His servants.
This is God’s grace—not only the friendly faces but also the difficulties. I can so identify with your words, Dawn, having also faced challenges “so very intense” that they pushed me to “cling to Him every moment.” But maybe that’s exactly the purpose He has for us in them. The situation or job choice itself may not be nearly as important to Him as how much more closely we will come to relate and walk with Him. And that ends up being our ultimate best blessing, too!
(Sounds like you could use some ongoing prayer support! God bless you, dear sister. At these times it’s often hard to see how very much we’re growing. My guess is that you have been growing A LOT!)
Very good, thought-provoking discussions, here, Sylvia!
Yes, there are different levels and types of inner peace.
I think one key, for me, has been to not get too hung up on pursuing inner peace. It is about living my life for His glory, not about making myself at peace.
That’s not to say that He doesn’t provide peace and joy. He does. But my emotions should not be the primary goal, nor the primary basis of decision-making.
Thanks for the good discussion!
Bottom line truth, Joe! Thanks for adding to the discussion.