Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer has been heard and I understand how wearying this has been, especially being woken in the night and then again late in the evening by noise in the building. When sleep is broken and you feel that others are acting without consideration for you, it is natural to feel frustrated and to long for quiet and for people around you who are peaceful and kind.
Scripture speaks often about the God of patience. He is long suffering and slow to bring His purposes to pass, and He shows great forbearance even toward those who do wrong. We are told that the saints of old inherited the promises through faith and patience, and that we have need of patience after we have done the will of God, that we might receive what He has promised. Like a farmer who waits for the full harvest, God waits and works in His own time. He calls us to share in that same patience and to be like minded toward one another according to Christ, showing the same kind of long suffering that He shows to us.
That patience is closely tied to hope and to peace. Hope in God, as we trust His word and His character, brings joy and peace in believing. There is a difference between having peace with God and knowing the peace of God day by day. Peace with God comes only through Jesus Christ and His blood shed for us, which takes away the enmity between us and God. The peace of God is what keeps our hearts and minds steady when the world around us is full of turmoil and strife. The prophet says God will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on Him, because he trusts in Him. Jesus said, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. That peace does not depend on a perfectly quiet building, but on keeping our thoughts turned toward the Lord and trusting that He will take care of what concerns us. We cannot know that settled peace until we have first received His grace, for grace always comes before peace.
God also calls us to be peacemakers. The wisdom that comes from above is peaceable, and those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. In the days of captivity the Lord told His people to seek the peace of the city where they lived and to pray for it, for in its peace they would find peace. That is a different way to pray than asking only for others to be removed. It is asking God to bring His peace into the whole place, to work in every heart, including our own.
I encourage you to keep bringing your need for rest and quiet before the Lord, but also to ask Him to help you to sow peace where you are. Pray for the young person whose steps disturb you, that God would soften and change hearts and bring consideration. If it is wise and safe, consider a gentle word or a respectful note, or speaking with those who oversee the building, not in anger but in a spirit of grace. Above all, ask God to guard your own heart with His perfect peace as you keep your mind stayed on Him, and to give you patience to wait for His working in His time.
May the Lord, who is the God of patience and comfort and the God of hope and peace, grant you His grace afresh, fill you with joy and peace as you trust Him, and keep your heart in His perfect peace. May He make you an instrument of His peace in that building, and bring quiet and rest in the way that is best according to His love and wisdom. In Jesus name, amen.
Scripture speaks often about the God of patience. He is long suffering and slow to bring His purposes to pass, and He shows great forbearance even toward those who do wrong. We are told that the saints of old inherited the promises through faith and patience, and that we have need of patience after we have done the will of God, that we might receive what He has promised. Like a farmer who waits for the full harvest, God waits and works in His own time. He calls us to share in that same patience and to be like minded toward one another according to Christ, showing the same kind of long suffering that He shows to us.
That patience is closely tied to hope and to peace. Hope in God, as we trust His word and His character, brings joy and peace in believing. There is a difference between having peace with God and knowing the peace of God day by day. Peace with God comes only through Jesus Christ and His blood shed for us, which takes away the enmity between us and God. The peace of God is what keeps our hearts and minds steady when the world around us is full of turmoil and strife. The prophet says God will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on Him, because he trusts in Him. Jesus said, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. That peace does not depend on a perfectly quiet building, but on keeping our thoughts turned toward the Lord and trusting that He will take care of what concerns us. We cannot know that settled peace until we have first received His grace, for grace always comes before peace.
God also calls us to be peacemakers. The wisdom that comes from above is peaceable, and those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. In the days of captivity the Lord told His people to seek the peace of the city where they lived and to pray for it, for in its peace they would find peace. That is a different way to pray than asking only for others to be removed. It is asking God to bring His peace into the whole place, to work in every heart, including our own.
I encourage you to keep bringing your need for rest and quiet before the Lord, but also to ask Him to help you to sow peace where you are. Pray for the young person whose steps disturb you, that God would soften and change hearts and bring consideration. If it is wise and safe, consider a gentle word or a respectful note, or speaking with those who oversee the building, not in anger but in a spirit of grace. Above all, ask God to guard your own heart with His perfect peace as you keep your mind stayed on Him, and to give you patience to wait for His working in His time.
May the Lord, who is the God of patience and comfort and the God of hope and peace, grant you His grace afresh, fill you with joy and peace as you trust Him, and keep your heart in His perfect peace. May He make you an instrument of His peace in that building, and bring quiet and rest in the way that is best according to His love and wisdom. In Jesus name, amen.
