Peace in Every Storm

Scriptures: John 16:33, Romans 8:28, Psalms 94:1, Malachi 3:5, Romans 8:18, 1 Corinthians 15:54

The Final Say

The last chapter has been written, and we win!

There is no permanent victory for the devil. Ever. Imagine Satan’s response, thinking that he’d won a final victory when the Messiah was crucified only to realize the trouble he was in three days later. There are a couple of things that are guaranteed to you. First, every situation where you have ever experienced the devourer—the one who kills, steals and destroys—will be worked for your benefit (see Romans 8:28). Did God design your suffering? No. It wasn’t His idea, but He’s so big that He can win with any hand. He will take any situation that comes into our lives with affliction and turn it around for our blessing.

Here’s the second thing: our God is the God of vengeance (see Psalm 94:1). There’s no such thing as the devil having the final say in anything. That beast will be silenced and there will be absolute vindication for every moment of infirmity, affliction, torment, pain, and temptation you’ve ever experienced.

God draws near in judgment (see Malachi 3:5) not to condemn us, but to judge the powers of hell. There will be vindication. Even if you don’t see it all in this world, there’s just a thin veil that separates this world from eternity. You will have the pleasure of seeing the vindication of God for every single bit of loss you’ve ever experienced.

Finally, Romans 8:18 (NASB) says, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” It is not worthy of comparison. Whatever difficulty you have experienced or are currently experiencing, it cannot be compared to the glory that will be revealed in you, on you, and through you. Like Bob Mumford said, “I read the last chapter, and we win.”

Have you seen God redeem situations in your life in the past? List them out, remembering His faithfulness. If you were to write a final chapter of your life—filled with God’s vindication—what would it look like?

Scriptures: Judges 7:2, 2 Kings 13:18, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Reduced to Strength

God will reduce me to my place of strength.

Gideon had an assignment from the Lord. He was to leave his hiding place and lead Israel’s army into battle with the Midianites. God brought an army of men to Gideon, but almost immediately He began to send people back home. The strength of Gideon would not come from the number of his troops. God often prunes us back to a place of strength and health found in our dependence on Him. It’s not pleasant, but our comfort is not His main concern.

Israel had 32,000 soldiers. With those numbers, they could have taken credit for the victory God had for them. God was going to reduce the army to a mere 300 men. First, He sent home the 22,000 men who were fearful. Fear makes people unstable and more likely to take glory for themselves. God is jealous for His glory, and fear turns the attention away from the greatness of God and back onto our own ability.

With 10,000 people left, God had one more test; He was only going to select the men who drank water in a specific way. It would be so nice if every time God gave us a test we knew what the goal was. If the king who only hit the ground with the arrows three times had known God’s goal in testing him, he probably would’ve hit the ground a million times (see 2 Kings 13:18).

But God doesn’t do that. He puts us in the middle of a test, and He tests for something that we can’t fake—character. When the 10,000 went to the water, 9,700 drank directly from the river and 300 scooped the water into their mouths, staying alert. God chose the latter.

The Lord could’ve won that battle on His own without any army, so He wasn’t demonstrating that He could be victorious with only a few men. He was showing that He would bring victory, no matter how many in number, with those who weren’t fearful and who were alert. Now Gideon’s army was ready. God had reduced them to their place of strength.

Where have you experienced the reduction of God? How has that caused you to depend on His strength even more?

Scriptures: John 14:27, Luke 2:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Peace Is a Person

God’s peace prevails over every situation in my life because the Person of Peace lives within me.

If we look around us at the circumstances—political, economic, social—the enemy has succeeded in raising up voices that best represent hopelessness. It doesn’t take much. We can simply turn on the news to immediately hear all that is wrong with the world. It is hard to find a voice of hope and easy to find hopelessness. Some give it a different name, calling it discernment, realism, or intelligence. But, whatever name it’s given, hopelessness is not a part of God’s kingdom. His intention for this world is to fill it with His presence. The angels declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14). That is the will of God.

Peace is the prevailing substance of the atmosphere of heaven, and God has given us His shalom—everything coming into alignment with Him—as our inheritance. Peace is not the absence of something. It’s not the absence of war, fear, or noise. True peace is the presence of Someone. It’s the Prince of Peace who crushes the powers of darkness under our feet when we become permeated with Him. It is Peace Himself who offers Himself as the Comforter so we might never need to be afraid. It is for peace that God gave us His Son so we might taste eternity. How could we know that and choose to live without hope?

Though we can look at the circumstances of the world and feel overwhelmed, we are not here to announce the enemy’s victory; we are here to announce his defeat. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us. Hopelessness has been defeated. His peace—that which touches our spirit, soul, and body—tames every opposition. God’s peace prevails over every situation in our lives because the Person of Peace lives within us.

Where do you see the world’s greatest need for the Person of Peace to invade? List some of the breakthroughs that would result from heaven invading these situations.

Scriptures: Isaiah 41:10, 2 Corinthians 2:11, Philippians 4:6-7

Love vs Fear

What I fear will influence what I worship, and what I worship will be proven by what I trust.

“Do not fear” is the commandment repeated more often than any other in Scripture. By repeating the commandment so frequently, the Lord reveals the primary tactic the enemy uses to disengage us from our life source. The devil can’t cut us off from God; he’s not that powerful. But he can tempt us out of alignment with our Creator. Like a dislocated arm that no longer has full mobility, we can become disjointed, not functioning in our intended authority. And fear is what does that.

Fear is an agreement with the enemy. Any time we believe a lie, we empower the liar. We don’t want to become devil-focused, but as Paul writes to the Corinthians, we can’t be “ignorant of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11). When the Lord says, “Do not fear,” He is never trying to shame or expose us. Rather, He’s revealing to us that the grace to be victorious over fear is within our reach. He is inviting us into a partnership. When He gives commands, He enables us to do what we previously couldn’t do. That is the empowering nature of grace.

There is grace to deal with whatever comes against us. Experiencing fear is not a sin, but partnering with it—embracing fear as though it were truth—is a violation of God’s design. This doesn’t mean we ignore the reality of our circumstances. It means that, in the midst of our circumstances, we recognize there is a higher reality. Jesus has taken care of every problem we could ever face. We now walk in His victory, aligning our minds with His. What we fear will influence what we worship, and what we worship will be proven by what we trust.

How has fear tried to disconnect you from God’s goodness, power, and vision for your life? Take some time to remind yourself that God is bigger than any fearful smokescreen the enemy could throw up before your destiny. You have a powerful destiny and calling on your life.

Scriptures: Romans 16:20, Mark 4:38, Matthew 17:20

Prayers of Authority

I can only release peace over a storm through which I can sleep.

Jesus and the disciples got into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. As they were crossing, they ran into a storm so strong that the disciples knew they’d most likely die. They were terrified. They woke up Jesus, the Son of God, and pleaded with Him to do something to save them. They cried out just like many of us pray when we’re in the middle of a crisis: “Don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38). But Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith.

What they didn’t realize was that if Jesus was sleeping in their boat, they had divine purpose no matter the strength of the storm. Jesus was asleep because He lives from the kingdom of heaven toward earth. And in His kingdom, there is no turmoil. When the disciples cried out to Him, He woke up and commanded the wind and waves to stop. He rebuked the wind and declared peace over the waves. The chaos stopped immediately.

Many people could have stood at the bow of the boat, rebuking the storm to no avail because they were ministering out of fear. But Jesus was able to release peace because He lived in peace. Peace is a military move that overwhelms and subdues the demonic. The shalom of heaven subdues all chaos.

Jesus slept during the storm because He was a citizen of heaven in the same way that we are. Sometimes we imagine that, in prayer, we are trying to get God to intervene. In fact, God is looking for people to use the authority they’ve been given. Instead of reaching out to God, trying to get Him to invade our circumstances, we are to boldly pray from the promises of God. When we can see our circumstances from heaven’s perspective, we have the authority and anointing to address the problem. We can only release peace over a storm through which we can sleep.

What storms in your life are trying to distract you from the divine purpose of God on your life? How can you reconnect with the peace of heaven in order to pray with authority?