Day 12 in the Wilderness: Take hold of His peace.

“So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭34:30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There is an old proverb that says “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” What this means is, you can give opportunity and direction, but you can’t motivate, you can’t force a change of mind.

Shipmen, lost at sea for several days, were close to dying of thirst. Seeing a friendly vessel, they began crying out for help, “Give us water; we are dying.” To which the answer was given, “Let down your bucket!” Thinking they had been misunderstood, the desperate men cried out again, “Water! We are dying!” Again the answer came, “Let down your bucket!” After repeating this exchange three or four times, the distressed captain took a bucket and let it down into the water. Much to his shock, he pulled up a bucket of fresh water, as they were in the mouth of the Amazon river. You see, The force of the Amazon river going into the ocean is so strong that the water can remain fresh a great distance from the land. Had these men not come upon this other ship, it is very possible they would’ve died of thirst, surrounded by fresh water.

The lyrics to an old hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus,” tell a great truth.

“What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

We are living in a time of great stress and uncertainty. Now, more than ever, we need the peace of God through Jesus Christ. And yet—because we do not take the Lord up on His generous invitation to come to Him—we needlessly suffer from anxiety, fear, and even despair.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28-29‬ ‭NKJV

Jesus—before departing this earth—promised that He was leaving His peace with us.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14:27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

So, if He was leaving us peace, the perfect peace not dependent on circumstances, why then are we not at peace? Take note, He also said “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” If we don’t choose to take His peace, it will do us no good.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.””

‭‭John‬ ‭16:33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Could it be that we don’t take hold of peace because we don’t believe that the Lord has overcome the world for us? In other words, we may believe that He overcame; but we may doubt that we have the same overcoming power.

Today we see that the children of Israel are yet again afraid. This time it’s because of the glorious glow that Moses has after having been in the presence of the Lord. But at other times they were afraid because they were facing the enemy; or they were afraid because they were thirsty, or they were hungry, or they were…fill in the blank. It seems that their natural response, their first response, was to let fear drive them to unbelief; or was it their unbelief that brought fear? Actually, we see a hellish “chicken and egg”phenomenon with fear and unbelief.

Even though the Lord had promised them protection and provision—which they had seen manifested many times—their first response is still to fear.

If you have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you, you have ever present access to the perfect peace that passes understanding. However, if you will not take hold of that peace, if you will not allow it to guard your heart, you may well die of thirst, surrounded by fresh water!

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:

Take hold of His peace.

#40daysinthewilderness