It's Above Me Now ♡♡♡
"But the fruit of Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another" - Galatians 5.22 -26
So I went around searching up the word peace. One definition says it is "freedom from disturbance | tranquility". Another refers to it as "a state or period in which there is no war or war has ended". A lot of people would choose tranquility over disturbance. They would also choose peace over fighting a war.
Our focal scripture points out something very important. It says, against such things i'e.. "love, joy, peace, forebearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, there is no law. It further goes on to say that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Let's unpack that for a minute, shall we?
Passions and desires? what is wrong with that? Well nothing, except when it is flesh induced. Our flesh can hold up intense passion and desire for certain things - so much so that it brings about our lack of peace. For example, I desired to have children for a very long time. Whilst there was nothing wrong with desiring children per say, there were times during my "waiting and growing" journey to motherhood, that this desire controlled my peace. It posed as an idol sometimes. Society pressure (loose peace). Baby shower (loose peace). Relative pressure (loose peace) and on and on it goes. In those moments, I allowed myself succumb to the pressure of what appears to be the expectation of this world, as opposed to the freedom I now had in Christ. I would be disturbed, not until I ran back again to the foot of the cross.
Beloved, you are not obligated to succumb to the weight and pressures of this life if you are in Christ Jesus. Peace of mind is so important that many people opt to go for therapy or counselling. People cut off toxic relationships. People enroll in different forms of meditation and wellbeing programs. It's fascinating how many articles, tweets and quotes we wake up to everyday helping us navigate our peace. Your mind is important, and Jesus cares about it too.
I saw a quote a few times this week, not sure who authored it originally. It goes "The peace after you prayed is unmatched, it's above me now". It took me quite a bit, but really it leads me to this scripture in Colossians 3: 1-2 msg
"So if you are serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, be alert to what is going on around Christ- that's where the action is. See things from His perspective"
Imagine when anything tries to steal your peace, you say a prayer about whatever it is and truly believe that it's above you now. Leave it exactly there. Pressure to get married, to have a successful career, to have children, to be a great sister, brother, friend, leader, pastor etc. Maybe for you it's the feeling of insecurity, hurt, feeling unloved or misunderstood. Whatever it is, we can leave it at the feet of Jesus and believe daily that it is truly above us now. I know it can be hard to think about prayer first when your mind is attacked, with all of your worries at the forefront. But peace is not passive, it is intentional.
Jesus is our peace and He desires peace for us. On that note, I'd like to leave you with this portion from a popular hymn, I believe you know it. What a friend we have in Jesus!
Love the quote too! Thanks for sharing Seun
ReplyDeleteSo Awesome, thank you Seun
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Cuz.
ReplyDeletePraying and bring it to God, he will give you peace throughput the hardship. Love you sis!!💜💜💜
ReplyDeleteAsha cruz 💕💕
DeleteLet not your heart be trouble, believe in God and believe in me also, in Father's house ........
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. May the peace of God the surpasses all human understanding keep our hearts and minds pure.
Thanks for sharing...😘💖💖
ReplyDeleteHere we go again, a write-up of a pen of a ready writer blessed by God! Thank you beautiful Momma 😍 for sharing your gift with me and the world! This particular piece ministers to me per career transition and letting it "disturb" my peace! It just hurts when those closer to home are the ones applying the pressure the most. Thank you, I'm taking it to Jesus right now and leaving it - it's NOW ABOVE ME! Over to Abba!
ReplyDeleteLove ya Momma 💛
This resonates with me, the struggle to find peace was a major storm in my life. I'm not where I want to be but I have made some progress by acknowledging God first and praying about everything no matter how little it seems. Thanks love for always blessing me with your writngs!
ReplyDelete