Silas
Beloved of All
Your request has been heard and I have prayed for you in the name of Jesus Christ. That heavy mind and that pulling you feel at your heart is not hidden from the Lord. He sees the heart as it truly is, not as it appears on the outside, and He cares about what is happening deep within you.
Jesus spoke to His own disciples when their hearts were troubled. He had told them He was going away and that difficult things were ahead, and they were distressed. His answer to them was, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. He pointed them to the Father and to Himself, and to the promise that in His Father's house there are many rooms and that He was going to prepare a place for them. He wanted them to know that even when everything around them felt unstable, the Father remains in control, and their future with Him is secure. That is the foundation for peace.
The peace Jesus gives is not the kind the world offers. The world often says peace, peace when there is no real peace underneath. It can be a surface calm that leaves the inner war untouched. For a time people can go through the right outward routine while the heart is still divided or far from God. But God desires truth in the inner being. He wants a heart that is fully turned toward Him, not just faintly or outwardly. Scripture speaks of the circumcision of the heart, not merely an outward mark, but a cutting away of the fleshly desires so that the heart loves and serves Him out of genuine love rather than duty. He invites you to be honest before Him about what you are carrying, because He already knows it and He can deal with it when you bring it openly to Him.
There is an order to how this peace comes. Grace comes first, and then peace. We are at war with God because of sin, and God has offered a peace treaty through the forgiveness that comes by Jesus Christ alone. When your sins are forgiven and you are made right with God through Him, you have peace with God. Then, as you learn to live in His grace and trust His care for you, you come to know the peace of God guarding your heart. It is a peace that is not based on circumstances, like the peace Jesus had when He could rest even as the storm rose around the boat, because He rested in perfect confidence that the Father holds all things.
The wisdom that comes from above is peaceable. It leads to peace and it sows peace, and those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. That inner turmoil that wears you down is not what God intends for you to live in. He wants to quiet the war within so that you can then walk in peace with others as well.
You prayed that the Lord would either quiet your spirit with His peace or reveal what He is calling you to understand. Both are part of His loving work. Sometimes He quiets the heart immediately as you trust Him and bring your trouble into the light of eternity, remembering His promises and His control over your life. Other times that very stirring you feel is His Spirit working in you to will and to do what pleases Him, placing a desire or a conviction in your heart to show you an area He wants to address, cleanse, or guide. In either case the path is the same. Bring your troubled soul to the Father just as Jesus did when His own soul was troubled, and ask Him to search you, to show you any divided place, and to fill you with His love.
I have prayed that God will do that for you now, that He will forgive and cleanse you through Jesus, that He will grant you His peace that passes understanding to guard your heart and mind, and that if there is something specific He wants you to see, He will make it clear with gentleness and wisdom, so that your heart becomes more fully His home where Christ is welcome and at rest. May you know His righteousness, peace and joy as you trust Him today.
Jesus spoke to His own disciples when their hearts were troubled. He had told them He was going away and that difficult things were ahead, and they were distressed. His answer to them was, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. He pointed them to the Father and to Himself, and to the promise that in His Father's house there are many rooms and that He was going to prepare a place for them. He wanted them to know that even when everything around them felt unstable, the Father remains in control, and their future with Him is secure. That is the foundation for peace.
The peace Jesus gives is not the kind the world offers. The world often says peace, peace when there is no real peace underneath. It can be a surface calm that leaves the inner war untouched. For a time people can go through the right outward routine while the heart is still divided or far from God. But God desires truth in the inner being. He wants a heart that is fully turned toward Him, not just faintly or outwardly. Scripture speaks of the circumcision of the heart, not merely an outward mark, but a cutting away of the fleshly desires so that the heart loves and serves Him out of genuine love rather than duty. He invites you to be honest before Him about what you are carrying, because He already knows it and He can deal with it when you bring it openly to Him.
There is an order to how this peace comes. Grace comes first, and then peace. We are at war with God because of sin, and God has offered a peace treaty through the forgiveness that comes by Jesus Christ alone. When your sins are forgiven and you are made right with God through Him, you have peace with God. Then, as you learn to live in His grace and trust His care for you, you come to know the peace of God guarding your heart. It is a peace that is not based on circumstances, like the peace Jesus had when He could rest even as the storm rose around the boat, because He rested in perfect confidence that the Father holds all things.
The wisdom that comes from above is peaceable. It leads to peace and it sows peace, and those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. That inner turmoil that wears you down is not what God intends for you to live in. He wants to quiet the war within so that you can then walk in peace with others as well.
You prayed that the Lord would either quiet your spirit with His peace or reveal what He is calling you to understand. Both are part of His loving work. Sometimes He quiets the heart immediately as you trust Him and bring your trouble into the light of eternity, remembering His promises and His control over your life. Other times that very stirring you feel is His Spirit working in you to will and to do what pleases Him, placing a desire or a conviction in your heart to show you an area He wants to address, cleanse, or guide. In either case the path is the same. Bring your troubled soul to the Father just as Jesus did when His own soul was troubled, and ask Him to search you, to show you any divided place, and to fill you with His love.
I have prayed that God will do that for you now, that He will forgive and cleanse you through Jesus, that He will grant you His peace that passes understanding to guard your heart and mind, and that if there is something specific He wants you to see, He will make it clear with gentleness and wisdom, so that your heart becomes more fully His home where Christ is welcome and at rest. May you know His righteousness, peace and joy as you trust Him today.
