God is Peace
Today’s devotion is from guest writer, Carol Graves.
Peace: state of calm; freedom from strife or discord; harmony in personal relationship
Isaiah 54:10 (NIV) “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
When my older daughter graduated from High School I joined a group of mothers who met weekly to pray for our children. Before this time I would consider myself to be a “prayer warrior”. More often than not, my prayers were asking God, “I need this” or “please do that”. “Right now, Lord. I need this RIGHT NOW!” Seldom was my heart, my mind or my spirit at peace.
As I prayed with these moms I discovered that rather than approaching God with a laundry list of demands, I began my prayers with praise. I discovered that praise is not thanking God for what He has done, rather it springs from knowing who He is. Each week we focused on one attribute of God, read the definition, then read scriptures from the Bible that illustrated that attribute of God’s character. The more I learned about who God is, the more I found ways to praise Him. This led me to a day when God showed me how praise leads to peace.
My younger daughter would soon be a junior in high school and had struggled with math throughout her school years. The teachers, the counselor and I agreed that she would do best if she learned math one on one. Using a correspondence course for Algebra II, I became her teacher. I was willing but my student was a bit reluctant. She struggled and plodded, working every problem with me hanging over her shoulder, encouraging, explaining, and negotiating our way through the course. It felt like walking through mud with a ball and chain – for both of us! Although she had worked every problem and turned in all the assignments, the final grade was determined only by the grade on the final exam. If she failed the final exam, she failed the course. The morning she left for school to take the test we were both anxious. I remember driving by the school on my way to work, praying – pleading with God to help her remember the formulas, to help her read the questions clearly, to understand what the problem was asking, to correctly write and label the answers. As I was tearfully pleading with God, He spoke to my heart very clearly, “Carol, don’t focus on what your daughter can do, focus on what I can do.” In that moment all of those attributes I had prayed through the years came flooding through my mind – God is faithful – God is able – God is all wisdom and knowledge – God understands – God is victorious, and on and on. Suddenly my heart was filled with praise. As I begin to shift my focus to all that God is, the burden bearing down on me was lifted and replaced with a peace that Jesus describes as “beyond understanding.” I knew that regardless of the outcome, everything would be OK because God is in control. As I praised God and put my hope in Him, my heart was filled with peace and joy. I shared this with my daughter and as we waited for the test results, we were able to yield the outcome to God and rest in His peace. Three weeks later when we got the test results, she had made an A on the test.
That day I learned this simple yet profound concept: “Shift your focus from what you can do to what God can do.” As I learn more and more about His character through the Scriptures, my faith and trust in Him grows deeper. It has changed my prayer life from being a “prayer worrier” to becoming a “prayer warrior.” It has changed me from desperation and anxious thoughts to peace of heart, mind and spirit.
Isaiah 26:3 says it perfectly, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
Carol Graves is passionate in her desire to share how God has led her to a place of peace through focused prayer. As the leader of prayer groups for many years, she has experienced the life transforming power of focusing on the fullness of God. Her desire is to encourage and equip others to experience the “peace that passes all understanding,” through her Fully in Focus ministry. She has authored devotional books, a Bible Study and children’s books, and has been awarded two Christian Choice Book Awards. Now retired, Carol enjoys writing, speaking, teaching, traveling and spending time with her family.
Thank you Carol for sharing your wisdom with us. It is so true to remember in our prayers who God is.
great post.
Carol, what a wonderful and timely post! Thank you for an awesome Word and thank you for being our guest writer this month! ?