I’m glad to see you again. It’s been a while. The last four months have been spent working on a special project that I hope to share with you soon. God has been working hard, teaching me to hold onto joy and peace during chaotic circumstances!
Today, topsy-turvy is the best way some describe their lives. It’s just not well with their souls. From a global perspective, the world’s condition seems unredeemable. It’s enough to break the hardest hearts.
On a personal level, many are warring with despair. Even the most respected among us are tempted to eagerly pluck a flaming arrow from the evil one’s quiver and shoot it into anyone who offends them. Perhaps your fears have knocked faith out from under you, and that sense of foreboding will not surrender. I get it.
So did John the Baptist.
When some of John’s followers visited him in his underground prison, they told him of the miraculous things Jesus had been doing. John then sent for two of his disciples and requested that they ask Jesus if He was the Messiah they had been waiting for or if they should wait for someone else. John fully understood that Jesus was the Messiah, but the waiting was excruciating.
When we look at our circumstances, the suffering of those we love, and the chaos in the world, it’s natural to wonder what Jesus is waiting for. Our human nature longs for a miraculous deliverance to return things to how they used to be. But God’s plan is different. He wants to use the trials we face to deepen our dependence on Him, guide us toward surrender, and ignite a holy fire in our hearts that cannot be contained.
Since Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, we have something John the Baptist didn’t have – the indwelling Holy Spirit. Those of us who are filled with the Spirit have the capacity to wait IN the Spirit, not FOR the Spirit. We don’t have to wait FOR Him because He is always working through every trial, temptation, and circumstance. He expertly orchestrates divine appointments, nudges people in the right direction, convicts hearts, and even selects governmental leaders to bring about changes (good and bad) that can ultimately lead more people to Him.
Fully trusting that God knows what He is doing allows us to wait IN the Spirit, where we are filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What would a world full of people filled with these things be like? Better yet, what could a church full of people like that do?
In the past few months, I have cried out to God for those desperately needing a physical miracle. So far, that miracle has not happened. Instead, they have received a far more significant miracle—the astounding miracle of joy and peace in the midst of suffering. While skeptics might view a physical miracle as a coincidence or the result of effective medicine, the miracle of joy and peace can ONLY come to those injected with the Holy Spirit.
If your emotions are a bit topsy-turvy right now, Jesus understands. He’s sitting at the right hand of God, ready to hear all about it. Talk things over with Him and let His Spirit living in you ease your mind, mold your will, and calm your ruffled emotions until you can truthfully say, “It is well with my soul.â€
“If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light.†(Matthew 11:28-30 CEV)
