Peace During Stress

 

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John 11:25 Contemporary English Version

²⁵ Jesus then said, “I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die.”

 

It has been 18 years since my prostate cancer was diagnosed. The cancer has subsided and then reared its ugly head several times over those years. Currently it is in remission, for which I am very thankful. If there is one thing the cancer has taught me, it is that when cancer goes into remission it will return. So, I don’t use the word “Cure.”

Throughout this period, I have had an almost strange calmness. I have told myself several times, Wil, you have lived a good life! You have many promises from God’s word that after you die you shall live again. I think this has been a continuing reassurance to me. However, I am fully aware that I shall die.

The Word has promised that before Christ comes, there will a time of trouble “such as never was since there was a nation”.[2] I invite you to look back over the times of trouble that have occurred. Millions have been driven from their homes and had their homes destroyed. They have suffered with no clothes in the severest of weather. They have had little or nothing to eat or drink. They have been totally homeless with no one who cares for them. Many times, their corpses have lain where they have fallen. Remember the killing fields in Cambodia and the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Being an old man, I shall not endure the time of trouble for long, not long enough to see the coming of Christ. That is why I treasure Christ’s promise that he will raise me to life!

I invite you, dear Reader, to accept Christ’s offer of life and salvation that is offered to us free and without any merit of ours. You may ask, “Do you have any concrete evidence of the validity of his promise?” Yes, the evidence that He has stood by me for these long years and fulfilled my every need upon request. If you choose to remain skeptical, you not only lose out, but you also fulfill prophecy that there will be scoffers in the last days.[3]

 

Dear Lord, grant Your Peace to each person who reads this blog  knowing that they, too, are included in Your promise.

 

 

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[1] paradise images - Bing images

[2] Daniel 12:1

[3] 2 Peter 3: 3-4. But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you ⁴ and say, “Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit.”

God's Peace Under Stress

 

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Isaiah 26:3 King James Version

³ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

 

We were teaching at Ikizu Secondary School in Tanzania in the tenth year of national independence. The government was still feeling its way through political challenges, economic challenges, and undesirable colonial hangovers. Besides, much of recently independent Africa was suffering from political instability. Country after country suddenly had a violent coup de tat that destroyed the ruling government and replaced it by a power-hungry revolutionary. Recently Idi Amin, a Ugandan army general, had seized control of Uganda, while the current president was abroad at some meetings. He methodically killed anybody who was connected with the previous regime or might have leanings towards it. Over a million people died from his voracious anger and insecurity.

The Tanzanian government became very skittish. They viewed their own army as being suspect. Any alien was subject to a 24-hour expulsion from the country, if there was any suspicion that he or she might be critical of the government.

I was aware of this policy. I had taught for over four years not allowing myself to say anything critical or disrespectful of anything related to the government. I did my best to positively support all of their actions.

Peter was a student at Ikizu who was always critical of anything smacking of authority. He had circulated lies about the previous year’s principal, a well-respected Tanzanian who had since gone on and gotten elected as a member of parliament. In 1971, restless Peter decided to get me thrown out of the country with 24-hour notice. He started circulating lies about me. He accused me of defaming the flag and the government. He pushed these lies into every government committee that would give him ear.

The current principal called me in and informed me of what was happening. I realized that we were under the shadow of a 24-hour expulsion threat. Sylvia and I packed our important papers and a change of clothing into a little suitcase we could easily grab and walk out the door. The SDA Tanzanian headquarters also heard about it and offered to reassign me to a new mission post in a different country.

“Thank you!” I told them, “But I’m innocent of all of their charges. I feel no fear of physical attack. So, leave me here unless things get worse.”

We claimed the promise that God would keep us in perfect peace and rested on His promise. I confess that my mind was not 100% peaceful. But I did have full trust that God would look after us and went about my business as usual. In spite of Peter’s agitation, we finished the year in fine fettle. The next year we had a furlough, and I returned to the States to finish my graduate degree. I have always looked back on that experience with deep thanks to God for seeing us through.

 

Thank You, Lord, for preparing us for future trials and for your assurance that You will keep us in peace through those!

 

 

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[1] Idi Amin. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Mo1M-BEyOxPfcg9a4jFxEGDOTnh-Mw55wJXlxa4rhSh22GP9s5O32RFalXWRmcCENQLbDovbrtq3USvU9krxT-e1KeW1A7eGk50GdTj1IQ0KwePwz6HsRifhc0HQl0O7I0QqsrgYaw/s1600/Idi+Amin+Dada%252C+dictator%252C+Uganda.jpg

Exhibit t;he Fruit of the Spirit

 

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Galatians 5:22-23 Easy-to-Read Version

²² But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things.

 

Does one, or should one, strive to exhibit these spiritual fruit?

My wife has acquaintances that call her “friend,” several of them, in fact. I wonder if she attracts them. We have had some of them stay in our home at various times. When they do so, they become highly critical of every thing we do. They complain ceaselessly about having no friends, about the faults of others who have tried to support or help them. They become demanding: the food is tasteless, un-nourishing, not served at the right time, or in the right way. We keep the house too hot in the summer time and too cool in the wintertime. Anything that goes wrong is instantly our fault. We don’t provide transport for them to some entertainment, another “friends” home or meeting place, or some medical service. We don’t have coffee in the house or let them smoke in the house, especially when the weather is inclement. They literally run us to distraction.

I confess that I do not experience love, joy, peace, etc. as I wish I could. My wife is driven into high-blood pressure, depression, but she maintains her spiritual fruit seemingly effortlessly. Seeing her health deteriorating, I eventually put my foot down. I insist the intruder must leave. I actually have forbidden some of these “friends” from returning under any circumstances. On the other hand, she shows only love, patience, kindness, and deep care for these dregs of society.

I have prayed personally for some of these fruits of the Spirit. To no avail. On occasion I have prayed for some of these people, and eventually God has intervened in my life so that they become much more acceptable to me. I don’t know whether they have changed, or the Spirit has actually produced some of His fruit in my life. There is at least patience, kindness, and I sense the peace promised by this verse. I do know that my new attitude is not universal; there still are some ´friends” who rub me the wrong way.

It may be that you want me to pray for the infilling of God’s Spirit in my life that such fruit may become automatic in my life. May this same Spirit give my wife the fortitude and strength to survive their manifestation in her life.

Lord, come quickly and change me and them into beings that your love has formed us to be.

 

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[1] https://www.thinwithin.org/living-the-fruit-of-the-spirit/