As you begin to read this article, I want to ask—how are you doing? How are you tracking in this world that is so full of turmoil and uncertainty?
Is your life so busy, at times you find it difficult to catch your breath?
How is your spiritual life? Do you find it harder and harder to carve out time to spend in the Word and with Your Saviour?
It is good for us at times to stop and think upon these things and ask ourselves how are we travelling in this complex and complicated world. And importantly, how others see you interacting with the world passing around you. Whether you believe it or not, people watch us and see how we react and carry ourselves in a world so full of anxiety and stress. I wonder if we, as a corporate group of Christians, and me individually, are appropriately responding to this new normal?
We have all just been through several years of upheaval with the COVID-19 pandemic—a very defining part of our lives. For some people their lives have been affected drastically by loss and health challenges. I don’t think anyone can deny that our world is now a different place post pandemic. For me personally, this was a time that God grew my faith much stronger in Him.
During the COVID-19 years I was working for a Christian organisation where I spent a lot of time on the phone talking to people. During the first lockdown, most of the staff were able to stay in the office, but during the second lockdown people were very limited where they could travel. My colleague and I, who were local to the area, decided to stay and staff the office during this time. This lasted around six weeks. We manned the phones and sent out close to 1000 pieces of encouraging literature to people who were confused, lonely and anxious.
There was so much misinformation raging in different religious denominations that people were very confused. They rang us to find some sense of peace. My colleague and I felt that God was there with us every day and even though it was a very stressful time, He totally sustained us and looked after us. All we could do was encourage and pray with these people and share Bible verses with them.
What surprised me even more was the amount of angry people there were—especially Christians who felt indignant that their rights had been taken away. People were anxious, scared and frightened or didn’t trust that God would take care of them. It was an eye opener for me.
This was the time I dug into the Word, prayed, listened to and read the stories of older retired pastors who had experienced very difficult times in the mission fields and how God had protected and sustained them.
How do we have a relationship with Jesus that keeps us calm in the storm? One that allows us to have total peace that God has got this?
I‘ve learned that the promises in the Bible are very valuable. There is power in the Word! And as Christians we are to believe it and hold onto the precious promises that God has given in the Bible. Here are some promises that have helped me:
Isaiah 41:10—Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed for I am your God.
Hebrews 13:5—I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
1 Peter 5:7—Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
Zephaniah 3:17—The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save
Psalm 91:11—For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all they ways.
These are only a few that have resonated with me. There are so many more. Dig for them like precious jewels until you find the promises that give peace to your heart. Write them down, read them over and over until they give you the comfort you need. Pray them back to God and ask Him to take away the anxiety, stress and fear.
I think about the story of Jesus in the storm on the lake of Galilee. I have been on that lake in Israel and it was smooth as glass the day we sailed on it. It was very hard to imagine a storm with the waves so high they were lapping over the boat. I now live not far from a very large inland lake; I drive past it on my way to work. Many, many times I look across it and it is smooth as glass but when the wind whips up and the rain is pelting down that lake turns into a churning mess and I can imagine those disciples in the boat fearing for their lives. The interesting thing was that Jesus was in the boat with them, they had already experienced the miracles that He had performed and they were still afraid. They momentarily forgot He was there as He had fallen asleep and was quietly laying there in the background.
Jesus says it well in Matthew 8:26: “But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”
Do we momentarily forget that Jesus is with us in a storm situation? Do we let our minds wander off in the direction of fear and panic? I know I do, even when I have seen the many times He has stepped into my life and averted a situation or there has been a profound moment or period of time that I know He has been with me.
The only thing we can do is pray and ask God for forgiveness for our unbelief and help us to trust Him more to keep us calm in the storm. We can claim the promise found in Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” The devil can so easily get us off track and keep our eyes off Jesus. It is so easy at times for us to get over absorbed with the world and get lost in conspiracy theories and the many things that distract us.
We are to be aware of what’s going on in the world but not absorbed by it. God has got this. I love the promise found in Genesis 8:22: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” What a promise! When our world seems to be spinning out of control be assured that God has got this.
Dear friends, what we have experienced in the past few years is only a prelude of what is to come. It is now time for us to be absorbed in the Word of God and ask God daily to help us be calm through the storms of life. People will see that profoundly through us and ask us how we can have such peace and assurance during this time.
I came across a quote from Ellen White a few years ago that gave me great strength (and still does): “The serenity of mind which you may possess will bless all with whom you associate. The peace and calmness will in time become natural, and will reflect its precious rays upon all around you . . . The more you taste this heavenly peace and quietude of mind, the more it will increase . . . Perfect peace is an attitude of heaven which angels possess” (Lift Him Up, p94).
Wow, what comforting words! I love these verses in Philippians 4:6,7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
This is such a beautiful promise which we can pray back to God and ask Him to give us the peace we need. When we ask God to send us the Holy Spirit to take away our fears, worries and anxieties, He can do amazing things in our life that are beyond our understanding. We need to surrender our wills to God, ask for forgiveness, and ask Him to send His Holy Spirit to help us in our walk with Jesus and be a witness for Him. This may sound an all too easy fix but with continual practice and with God’s help we can change the way we think and respond to what is going on around us.
In this complex, complicated world we need to be vessels of peace and calmness sharing God’s promises of hope and salvation.
As 1 Peter 5:14 tells us, “May the peace of God be with you all.”
Natalee McLean writes from the Lake Macquarie area of NSW.
