Peace and joy in Christ are not automatic when we are saved, and we can’t manufacture it through our own efforts.
Earlier in my faith walk, I tried with all my might to do it that way and, of course, failed miserably.
I thought the mansion and sports car would do it, but over time I learned that God’s peace can only come out of an intimate relationship with Christ where he lives in my heart and rules my life day in and day out.
Most of us can grasp that promise intellectually, but then we want to know how in the world a Christian can experience God’s peace in today’s world. That kind of thinking diminishes God’s power.
We have made finding peace in Christ difficult by playing the “stay busy game” of frantically chasing worldly pleasure and success.
It’s a trap! Peace and joy can only come to us when we stop thinking it is automatic and start letting the Lord be the Lord.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Are you trying to MANUFACTURE peace and joy in your life? What can you do today that will shift that burden to Christ?
I ask God to remind me that peace and joy in him are not automatic after salvation and there is nothing we can do on our own to make it manifest in our life.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
