2 Thessalonians 3:16 – “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.”

The terror attacks of groups like isis remind us of the wickedness and unrest that ravish our war weary world today. They also remind us of the renewed need to pray for peace. Are you pursuing praying for peace in the hearts of people?  As Paul closes his letter to the church in Thessalonica he prays for them that they would experience true peace, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.” This is a church that began in the throes of persecution, where new believers were subjected to assault, civil prosecution and economic persecution (Acts 17:8-9). This is more than just a model prayer for peace, this is a prayer that points to the power of peace, the very presence of Jesus. It is here that Paul weaves into the fabric of prayer a revelation of Jesus Christ whose person assures us that our petition will be granted. As Paul points to Jesus as the LORD OF PEACE he is reminding us that he is the:

• Presider of Peace

Over the years there have been many who have presided over peace talks and negotiations. Some have secured peace treaties while others have even won peace awards like the “Nobel Peace Prize”. Yet in Jesus we have one who is not simply a presider at peace treaties, he is the presider of peace itself. When we cry out to Christ and pray for peace we are not depending on one who merely negotiates, arbitrates, or compromises for peace. No when we pray to Jesus Isaiah 9:6 reminds us that we are praying to the Prince of peace, the One who is able to command peace. This is the One Luke says commanded the winds and the waves to be calm, (Luke 8:24). When you pray remember that you are praying to the presider of peace. Not only is Jesus the presider but He is also the:

• Presenter of our Peace

How distressing and depressing it would be if peace rested solely on the results of our efforts. If that were the case, that it rested only on our work would we really ever obtain it? But Paul here declares that Jesus Christ is the presenter of our peace, “Now may the Lord of peace himself GIVE you his peace” Paul in his prayer is reminding us that peace is a gift given by God. Yes there is a peace we must labor for, a peace that comes as a result of our relationships with others. Jesus in Matthew 5:9 promised a blessing to the peacemakers, those who work for peace: “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” When it comes to peace with others we must work for it but the peace that permeates and creates harmony in our heart is not attained through our efforts. The reality is that the harder we try to achieve an inner heart peace the more it evades our grasp because inner peace is a gift from God. Paul also reminds us that Jesus is the One who personally presents this gift to us. This is personal you see it is one thing to receive a care package in the mail it’s another when the person giving the gift shows up personally to present it to us. Paul prays: “Now may the Lord of peace HIMSELF, give you his peace” Not only is Jesus the presenter of peace but He is also the:

• Preserver of our Peace

The peace which many trying to secure today is shallow and temporary, here today and gone tomorrow. The peace which most people talk about is either a past peace, that they remember and reminisce over or a future peace they are forever looking forward to, but few seem to be enjoying the peace of God now. Paul says that we can enjoy God’s peace in the present tense; at least that is the implication of Paul’s prayer “NOW may the Lord of Peace himself give you his peace…” This is not only a present peace but there is a promise that this peace is of the caliber that it will keep on lasting. It is not temporary like the world gives, no Pauls prayer reads: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at ALL times.” This is not a peace limited to certain times in our life but is available to us ALL the time. Jesus is also the:

• Prescriber of our Peace

This is seen in the phrase “in every situation” the King James says ”by all means” It would be easy to pass right over this part of the prayer but we need to especially pay attention to this detail. For when we make these words part of our personal prayer for peace, we are living by faith. We are saying that we trust God’s wisdom in the way that He chooses to answer.  We trust Him to provide peace by all means, regardless of the context that the answer comes in. It could come through joy or sorrow, health or suffering, wealth or poverty, the point is that we surrender to His purpose and His prescription of peace. We show our maturity by how much we trust the Master because the matter of our peace is in the hands of a faithful Father. As Paul closes his prayer we see in his final words the hub around which all the others revolve, it is here that we see that Jesus is the:

• Presence of our Peace

“The Lord be with you”. Without His presence the fact that He is the presider, presenter, preserver, and prescriber of peace would be of little consequence. Because we are blood bought children of God the Lord is with us which means that all the benefits of his presence belong to us. It  should be a great comfort to know that Jesus is with us but many Christians today rarely benefit from this knowledge because they are so distracted by the world that they have simply lose all awareness of His presence. This is what happened with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus was right there with them walking and talking to them yet they failed to have inner peace because their minds were diverted from the Lord. They were caught up in their circumstances instead of in Christ, they were living overwhelmed lives instead of being overcomers. Only when they were redirected and recognized the presence of the Lord did they experience peace (Luke 24:13-35). So today what are you praying for, are you petitioning the Lord for peace in the hearts of people?

John 16:33

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

From time to time in this life we will all encounter trouble. Sometimes it will come as trials and tribulations that test our trust. Sometimes they come simply for the glory of God, while at other times they come to bring us to the end of self so that we will surrender to the sufficiency of the Savior. We all struggle with self-sufficiency, that default of depending on our abilities instead of in the Almighty, where we reach not into His lavish riches but for our limited resources. When we go through times of trouble we have a tendency to focus on how rough the road is instead of our response. It’s not always the trials, temptations and tribulations that come, but rather our response to them that really matters. Often we just want to get through it so it can be over and done with and we can get on with the life that we like, but what if that crisis is there to challenge and to change us so we become more like Christ? What if it’s not the hardship that needs removed but the heart that need refined? The truth about trouble is not so much what we go through but what we can come out with. The truth about trouble is that it’s a:

• Means Whereby God is Revealed

As believers we have a tendency to look inward when trouble comes and whine “why me”, but instead of looking inward we need to look upward. We need to acknowledge the Almighty and put our trust in Him to handle out present problem. Who do you trust in the trouble, where do you turn, to the Father or to the flesh? It’s in the challenging circumstances that we discover who is really in control. Instead of our first question being “Lord why me”, we need to ask “Lord what are you teaching me through this trial?” Is your confidence in Christ, are you trusting Him first and foremost to handle your present trouble? When trouble comes we have a tendency to panic and rush around instead of stopping so we can seeking His face and be still before Him. Psalm 107:24-29 says, “They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves; They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away” but then we see the healing ministry of trouble and the hope that comes out of the chaos, 28 “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. 31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.” We will never have peace apart from His presence, peace that not only lightens the load but also lights our limited understanding. In the darkness sometimes God seems distant but if you open up your eyes you will discover that the mess only magnifies His message of peace. When His presence enters the trouble we discover that it was all worth it. When the “peace that passes all understanding” blooms in the darkness of our suffering the world gets to see a security that can only come from the Savior. Instead of focusing on the fear and feeling scared we feel safe in the midst of the storm.  I am thankful for the trials that force me to trust. I’m glad for those trials that trash my self-sufficiency and tear apart my ability to lean on self but drive me to the Lord. We need to realize that those tribulations that at first seem to toss us to and from were simply turning us back to truth. Trouble is a means whereby God is revealed and secondly:

• Ministry whereby Growth is Reached

Jesus said “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Jesus reminds us to focus on the truth not the trials, the truth that He has overcome, that we do not have to loose heart because we have hope in the victory of the cross. Trials can trip us up or trim away the fat in our lives and leave us fit. What seems like misery can actually move us to maturity. Trials strip away our ability to depend on self to get our God-given needs met forcing us to mature and depend on Christ to meet our every need. Galatians 5:16 says, “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh” To walk in is to do live in Him, its total dependence on the Father and not on the flesh.  Christ has conquered the world, the flesh and the devil and He did it all by standing on the spoken Word of God. Every temptation you face forces you to depend more fully on the Father, it forces us to face the facts that without Him we will fail. We need times of trouble to move us to maturity. We need time in the sand blaster of trouble so that it can strip away all of our old paint layers of pride and position us for total dependence on Him.  The tough truth is that we can grow and mature more in our Christian walk through times of trouble than times on tranquility. The question is will we put our complete trust and faith in Jesus to carry us through and handle the difficulty? If we do then trouble will be a ministry whereby growth is reached, and lastly a:

• Messenger whereby Grace is Received

The apostle Paul understood problems and pain, he knew what it was to have a thorn in the flesh that afflicted him. He prayed for God to remove this trial and it was while Paul persistence in prayer that God revealed to him that it was not the removal of the trial but God’s grace that he needed to receive. He said to Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness . . .” We like Paul can gladly glory in our trials when we realize that the power of Christ is best expressed in our weakness. Sometimes troubles train and prepare us to minister to others so that we can serve them out of our suffering and sorrow. Because we have gone through the troubles we are now prepared and positioned to provide the same comfort we have received from Christ. How will a lost and unbelieving world see the glory of God in our lives unless that which we claim to hold true is put to test? When our faith faces the fiery furnace we have an opportunity to walk unharmed and unbound before our God, just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did in Daniel 3. If we truly are His vineyard and He is the gardener then why would we whine and focus solely on the pain of the pruning and not on His purpose of bring forth more fruit? As clay in the hands of the potter experiences pressure so will we, but it’s the pressure that produces a vessel of purpose.  It was Peter who wrote “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”  1 Peter 4:12-13 Things may go from bad to worse just look at the lives of any of the disciples, who become hated, pursued, persecuted and falsely condemned. But for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ they can experience something in the midst of the problems and pain that the world cannot dare to dream of, peace. What if we were to view trouble as the means, ministry and messenger by which God is revealed, growth is reached and grace is received? Would it change your perception of what is really a problem?