What do we do when trials and troubles come our way? Our human reaction is to become upset, agitated and worrisome. We may think things like, “Is God really in control?” “Does God really know what’s going on here?” “Does God really care about me, or even know I exist?”
Well, the Book of Revelation describes a time when all Christians will experience total peace in Heaven. There will even be a group of people who will have turned to God during the Tribulation and are in Heaven with glorified bodies, at peace and at rest from their trials (Rev. 7:13-14). Those believers, and all believers, will no longer experience suffering and pain. Instead, we will be dressed in white robes and rejoicing. God will spread His tent over us and there will no longer be pain, suffering, sorrow, tears, abuses, or even death.
But hear this. God not only promises us peace in the “sweet by and by”, Jesus Christ offers us peace in the “here and now”! That’s right. We do not have to wait until we “pass on” to experience the peace that is found in our Lord. We can have that peace right now, today!
Hear again the words that Jesus spoke during the Passover meal He had with the Disciples on the night before He was crucified. Jesus said: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you I go there to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to take you to be with me so that where I am, you shall be also.” (John 14:1-3)
What an awesome promise from God the Son. He who spoke the entire universe into existence with but a word tells us that He is preparing a place for us, a place of incredible, indescribable beauty. And not only that, but also He will come Himself, in person, and take us to that place to spend all eternity with Him and God the Father.
We have that promise to grasp onto in trying times. Jesus tells us in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” All Christians are to experience Jesus’ peace, even in trying times, for He has given us the key to His peace. Jesus says that the major key to experiencing peace in troubled and trying times is to “Trust in God.”
Remember, He is preparing a place for you in the very presence of God Almighty. He is the one who saved you and will preserve you for all eternity. Whatever your circumstances are at this moment, good or not so good, they are only temporary. Whatever they are now, they are going to become wonderful beyond your wildest imagination.
But that is not all. Jesus also gives us another key to peace in our times. Listen to what He said that night in the Upper Room. Jesus tells us, “And I will ask the Father, and will give you another such as I, the Paraclete (translated Helper/Counselor), that He may be with you forever.” Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, who comes to live within us. He stands alongside us to be our intercessor, our defense attorney against the attacks of Satan before God. He will give us peace during the storm, if we let Him.
God not only wants us to experience peace while we wait for His return, He also wants us to learn to be patient and to endure the waiting. Waiting, patience and enduring is the theme throughout the entire Bible.
In Revelation 12:11, John describes these people as those who “overcame him (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.”
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatian Church, compares the works of the flesh, which leads to destruction, to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which belong to all Christians. One fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience. Paul clearly indicates that patience does not come from staunch determination on our part, but rather flows out of a life that is surrendered to God and is under the control of Jesus Christ, through the workings of the Holy Spirit. And understand this: patience is not so much developed in our worship time during church services, or even in our prayer closet at home, as it is during those times that we are living with the daily trials and tribulations of day-to-day life.
So we wait. But if you are like me, then there are times that, while we are waiting, we want to tell God what to do to resolve our difficulties quicker and easier. We sometimes forget who is God, and who is not. When that happens, God will sometimes gently, sometimes not so gently, remind us that He is God and He is in control. I am probably, by nature, one of the least patient people in the world. But it is the power of the Holy Spirit that is cultivating in me the fruit of patience. So: