50 Letters That Lead to the Transcendent Peace of God and the Joy of the Lord

Romans 12: 12: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, "Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!"

Today's key verse is one that we all should seek to bathe in, so that it can be sucked up into our soul and saturate our heart. Too often we can overlook some verses due to their simplicity or the commonality. We hear John 3:16 so many times we can forget to pause at the awesomeness of God's love contained in that one verse. We hear Jeremiah 29:11 so many times we can let it go by our eyes without pausing to bask in the promises God has for our lives and our future. This is how our sword becomes dull. This is how the Word begins to lose its power in our lives.

Romans 12:12 is also such a verse. It is a verse we should not idly pass by (not that any verses are). It is a verse that contains three simple instructions for our daily lives designed to guard against the attacks of the enemy, strengthen our walk and discover the peace of God. The enemy is always seeking to devour and too often we present ourselves as lunch for him because we allow verses like Romans 12:12 to lose their effectiveness in our lives.

The first instruction from this verse deals with a state of uncertainty in our lives. When we are hoping for something, there is something we want which is not fulfilled. We pray to God for the desires of our heart but the fulfillment has not come yet. Remember, God always answers but we are so conditioned to a microwave society that we only accept the answer of "yes." He also may answer "no" or "wait." Somehow we have become conditioned to treat these answers as God not being responsive. Nothing can be further from the truth:

but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God,
       who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! Psalm 66: 19-20

Note that the Psalmist does not declare that God said "yes" to his prayer but rather that his prayer has been heard. Too often in modern Christianity we can believe that if the answer is not a resounding "yes" from God that He has somehow withheld His love from us or not bothered to hear us. This first instruction from Romans 12:12 implores us to be joyful in hope. Why? Because too often our joy is fleeting and only based upon the immediate gratification we seek. We desire something, we want it, we ask for it. Then when the answer comes back "wait" or "no" our joy goes out the window.

The problem with that mindset is that we have replaced God as knowing what is best for our lives. The truly Christian life is one that is surrendered to His will because we simply do not have the knowledge or wisdom that God possesses. Yet when we do not get what we desire, we can assume we know better than God. Our joy becomes fleeting. Romans 12:12 starts with a great truism we need to incorporate into our daily lives we need to be joyful in our hope because God hears our prayers, not because He answers the way we want Him to. Our joy needs to be rooted in the omnipotence of God not in the whims of our flesh. Remember:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8: 28

In what things? In ALL things. We need to be joyful in our hope because no matter what happens, no matter what the answer is to our prayers, it is always for our good. God does not work for our detriment beloved. He does not carelessly hurt us or deny us because of malice. Everything good in this life comes from God alone:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1: 17

We change all the time. The world changes in the blink of an eye. God never changes. But here is the problem with us sometimes. When we are hoping and the hope is deferred or denied we fail to recognize that the deferment or denial is also a good and perfect gift from God. He sees what would happen if you were to have the answer of "yes" to your hope. He sees how it turns out for you and because He is specifically working all things out for your good He has no choice but to say "no" or "wait." The key is not our will but God's will:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1John 5: 14

His will for our life is to give us the hope and a future outlined in Jeremiah 29:11. He has the plan already. And because of the promises in Romans 8:28 we have the confidence of knowing that whatever the answer is to our prayers it is always in our best interest. That is how you remain joyful in your hope. To not listen to the lies of the enemy who will whisper in our ears that God doesn't love us or the heavens are brass. Those of you who are parents will attest that you do not give everything to your children that they ask for because you simply know better than they do. Well we are all children of God and He simply knows better. I am sure we can look back on some of the things we thought we wanted that God said "no" to and thus protected us and the plans He had for our lives. Hallelujah and thank you Lord!

The second instruction from the key verse today is to be patient in affliction. The first thing we need to take away from this is the realization that everyone will go through periods of affliction in their lives. We live in a sin-saturated and fallen world and the wages of sin are death. Too often we can view affliction and suffering through the lens of the world, which questions God for the fallen state of man. Jesus warned us specifically about the reality of affliction:

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16: 33 (NLT)

Note the interconnectedness of this verse. Jesus readily admits that we will face affliction while on this earth but in the same breath reminds us that we should take heart because He has overcome the world thus through Jesus and in Jesus we can have the peace we always so desperately seek. Our peace is also so fleeting though isn't it? Just like our joy can disappear like a vapor our peace is apparently also for sale sometimes to the enemy. A time of testing comes; a time of trial. This is an opportunity to strengthen our faith as James explains:

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1: 2-4

Instead, we turn the opportunity for joy into a chance for the enemy to steal our peace. He will whisper into our ears how God has abandoned us or make us question how God can allow such tribulation into our lives. We can allow our affliction to become bigger than our God. In Mark, Chapter 9, we see the father of the demon possessed child. He admits that his child has suffered for since he was small, indicating that this affliction had gone on for many years. He weakly asks Jesus for pity and to help him, "if you can." The response from Jesus reminds us that the enemy will always get us to focus on the symptom instead of the problem:

"What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." Mark 9: 23 (NLT)

The affliction this father had to endure had sapped his belief in the power that God possessed. He had lost his patience in the affliction. Contrast that with the story about the woman with the issue of blood. This was another long suffering situation as she had suffered for 12 years and the Bible tells us that she had spent everything she had under the care of many doctors only to grow worse. Yet her patience remained, her faith strengthened to the point that she knew what she needed for deliverance:

For she kept saying to herself, If I only touch His garment, I shall be restored to health. Matthew 9: 21 (AMP)

What do we keep saying to ourselves in the midst of our storms? Has our patience run its course? Who are we listening to? Romans 12:12 implores us to remain patient in our affliction because Jesus has already overcome the world and through Him, we can too. This life is a vapor as the Bible describes it and we already are living the eternal life with the promise of heaven yet to come. Our patience strengthens our faith. Our faith pleases God because it shows that we will not focus on our problems but rather on our problem solver.

Lastly, our key verse states the key to remaining joyful and hope and patient in affliction. We must remain faithful in prayer. Prayer is the vital element we need in our walk if we are to remain at peace and joyful. It is also part of God's will for our lives:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5: 16-18

We are to pray continually. It is about creating a God consciousness. A state of mind where we are truly walking with God not deferring to Him when things go bad or we want something. In Paul's letter to the Church at Philippi we see the summation of the plan of God for peace in our lives:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 4-7

Notice the first thing is to rejoice in the Lord always! Not just when we feel like it. Not just when He says "yes" but always. Why? Because the Lord is near! He is not some far away detached God. The Bible says He knows what we need before we even ask (Matthew 6:8). Then we need to realize that it is in our hearts and minds that we so easily lose our joy and our patience. Our hearts become troubled or our mind becomes impatient too easily when we forget what God has assured us of. His peace, the peace of Almighty God transcends all understanding that is known to man and will guard our hearts and our minds. It will protect us from losing our patience in affliction or our joy in hope. We live in that peace when we pray. When we refuse to believe in the anxiousness the world sells us and in EVERYTHING, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God. That means we pray about everything, not just what we are comfortable praying about. Not just when we find our backs are against the wall but everything. We also must do so with THANKSGIVING regardless of the answer! We are thankful not because we get what we want but because God hears us an answers according to the glorious will He has already laid out for our lives!

Faithfulness in prayer, patience in affliction and joy in hope. Three things that are not easily accomplished because they grate against our human nature so easily. Romans 12:12 is simply one of those verses that we ought to bathe in, as Spurgeon once said. Less than 50 letters in the verse, yet so many truths we need to suck up into our soul so that they saturate our hearts. Less than 50 letters that lead to the true peace of God and the joy of the Lord, available to us always in our hope or our affliction. Be prayerful today and rest in that peace forever.

Reverend Anthony Wade August 2, 2010