How to Find Peace in Trials

Peace Starts with the Source of Life

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14)

All of us have struggled with heartache; you can’t walk this life and not get knocked down a time or two. I’ve been battling a bit of it for the past ten days or so. This is when we had neighbors from our previous home over for dinner.

These are good people. They have a heart to serve, and they do it well. When we first landed in Tennessee, they were the first to invite us to their Southern Baptist church.

We sat around the dining table and shared what had been happening in our lives. They brought up one of their daughters and bragged that she’s a psychic—and according to them, she is gifted. She brings comfort to her clients by conversing with the spirits of their dead loved ones.

Hearing this sent a chill up my spine. God is clear on His view of such in the Bible.

And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord (Deuteronomy 18: 10b-12a).

With the tension-filled upcoming election, you won’t be surprised that politics found its way into our conversation—and neither my husband nor I were the ones to bring up the subject. However, I made the mistake of thinking we were all on the same page, so when I responded to an unfair remark (in my estimation), the wife smiled and said, “Let’s not talk politics. We’re democrats.”

Right there, my heart sank. Not because they’re democrats—but because it was a reminder of a conclusion I’d already made: many Christians are not considering God’s commands when casting their vote, or more importantly, living their lives. They aren’t in pursuit of Him, because they don’t know Him.

Start with the Word

By any chance, do you know the percentage of self-proclaimed Christians who read the Bible with any regularity? I could bore you with all the statistics I found on the Internet, but the bottom line is that it hovers around 11%. And most of those are once- or twice-a-week readers at best.

This fact has been the focus of my prayers over the last several years, and most especially during this election cycle. Progressive churches, even in the Bible Belt, are popping up at an alarming rate. Don’t like what the Bible says? Tweak it, take it out of context, or shove it aside in order to make sin less…sinful.

Progressives may claim the Bible is archaic—not relevant for the times we live in. My question is this: if it was relevant for thousands of years, how has is suddenly become less so over the last fifty?

It hasn’t. And to believe otherwise is a lie from the enemy.

It’s not my intention to offend anyone. I am a Jesus-loving, God-fearing disciple of Christ. God’s Word is the only Truth out there. There is no hedging bets, sugar-coating, or justifying when it comes to His commands. And if someone is offended by that, they should take it up with the Lord. I didn’t make up His commands; I just try to follow them.

And believe me, I’m the last person to cast stones. We are all sinners in need of a Savior.

But the truth is, if we’re not reading the Bible, if we don’t know the heart of our Lord, then we are not doing what God calls us to do. And it’s not to tickle the ears of sinners so they feel better about themselves.

Pursue peace; pursue the Lord

The only way to pursue holiness is to pursue the Lord—and this verse in Hebrews is clear that if we don’t, we won’t see Him. Our pursuit of Him is evidence of the fruit of our relationship with Him. No fruit, no relationship.

We are to love sinners, but hate the sin. Jesus certainly does. In his three-year ministry on earth, He called out the sinners. He didn’t condone their actions. He didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear. He certainly didn’t celebrate their sins. And when He returns, it’s to judge those who reject Him. If we reject His Word, we reject His holiness. We reject Him.

What does this have to do with the upcoming election?

In 2016, a strong Christian mentor of ours told us that when considering a presidential candidate, we should look at the three P’s: Personality, Policies, Platform. We can always find flaws with the candidates’ personalities. They’re human, broken people just like the rest of us. We don’t have to like them personally, and in most cases we won’t. Honestly, we don’t even know them. If we believe they show their true selves to the public, we’re deceived.

But when it comes to policies and platform we should always seek which of the two is more aligned with God and His desires.

I fear that many people today don’t even care so much about the policies or platforms—they’re voting on personality alone—and remember, they don’t even know these candidates. Or maybe they don’t even bother to dig into any of it, because once a democrat (or republican) always a democrat (or republicans).

Before I was a Christian, I voted for policies that may not have been God-honoring. But once I knew that I had to answer to God for every decision (even my vote), I had to then align my choices with His Word, not my opinions, and certainly not with a political party. Eventually, there was no separation between the two.

In the end, it doesn’t matter who is in the White House; 
God is on the throne. 

It won’t matter how many Christians go out and vote—although if we desire leadership aligned with God (and we should), then we must do our part and vote. It won’t matter if there is election fraud at the highest level. It won’t matter which candidate takes the most swing states, or which is most cunning at deceit.

No one—not Harris or Trump or Satan himself—can thwart the plans of God. And as Christians, we have to be able to give praise, regardless.

What we should most concern ourselves with is our eternal destination. Because God will do whatever it takes to gain our attention—and a heart of repentance. If that means things in our nation will need to get much worse before they get better, we’d better buckle up. It’s going to be a rough ride.

My biggest concern, though, is that there is so much divisiveness and hatred in our country right now, the reaction on either side could cause upheaval. That would be far worse than who’s in the White House come January. Let’s pray that the Lord will help us keep our eyes on Him, and love as He calls us to, regardless.

I listened to a podcast yesterday that helped me put things into the right perspective. It’s less than twelve minutes long. If you need a reminder, like I did, take a listen.

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