Your peace will not come from an absence of conflict or absence of things that are you are afraid of.
We see Jesus teaching about what must happen, that he must suffer and die to save the people from their sins. His purpose is to teach us to love, to care, to serve, to forgive.
This man needed physical healing: he was cutting himself, harming himself, and in great pain, but his physical needs came from a spiritual place.
He actually gives us the secret to happiness. As tempting as it would be to think that our happiness will come from getting what we want, or doing what we want, our having our needs or wants met, Paul turns that on its head.
Why? Why shouldn’t we get all kinds of anxious? Don’t you know what’s happening in the world? Don’t you know what’s happening in my life?
If in your congregation you are always fussing among yourselves, then why would the world want to be part of you?
What is the point of our faith? What are we after? What are we doing? We are seeking, by his grace, to be more like God. And what is God? Holy and Love.
One of the great blessings in life is to celebrate the ways that God works and moves. Sometimes, in our bid to stay humble, we can forget to give testimony to what God has done.
James tells us, when you are lead into tempted, don’t say – God is tempting me. Know where your temptations come from. Within us. Our flesh. Our desires. Our stuff.
That’s why we have to know ourselves.
What tempts you? Where are you weak? Where are you easily knocked off course? Where does trouble come for you?
But I do know this. In the midst of uncertainty and danger and fear, they chose not to give into the fear. They chose to do the right thing, even when they were afraid. They chose to trust that God had a plan, even in the midst of human brokenness.
