Peace and Joy.

"Happiness is based on our circumstances; peace and joy are based on an unchanging God."

This is one of the most convicting statements in my life. When I see the blatant truth that "peace and joy are based on an unchanging God" all my defenses have to fall down. In my life, peace and joy have been the things I most crave... and the things I so easily sacrifice. It doesn't seem to make sense that I would do this, but let me go a bit deeper.

"I don't have peace/joy because God is distant from me right now." "I don't have peace and joy because God is withholding it from me because of my sin/lack of prayer/etc." "I don't have peace and joy because the situations/circumstances in my life are not going well... money, relationships, jobs, death, depression, anger, etc."


These are some statements I have made and have heard from others. Each one of these are completely false, contrary to the Gospel, and put ourselves in a higher position that we put our God.

Truth vs. Falsehood/Lies/Pride

1. God is not distant... ever.
- Three times in scripture God tells his child, whom He has called to do His will, that He will "never leave or forsake" them. (Deut. 31:6, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5). So, to claim this defense is to outright deny Scripture, and what God has promised us as His children.

2. God is withholding these from me because of my sin.
- This is a lie straight from the lips of Satan. God is an unchanging God (Ps. 102:25-27, Mal.3:6, Ps. 33:11). His attributes (unchangeability/immutability being one of them) are all 100% in effect, 100% of the time. He can never be more just than He is merciful, or choose in which attribute to act. This includes His promises to us. God can never withhold peace and joy from us without going against His own character, which He also cannot do.
- And if we are assuming we have a lack of these because of our sinful lives, then we have a misunderstanding of the cross. When our Savior gave up His life and took on our sin in order that we could be forgiven, this was a final act. This was not the beginning of a process. In one moment we were forgiven, and made righteous and Holy before the eyes of our God. So to say that sin is keeping us from experiencing the promises of God, who views us as righteous and holy by the blood of Jesus Christ, is to say that the work of the cross is not enough. To say this is to deny that our salvation is by grace alone, and to take on the mindset that our works contribute to it... which is nothing less than pride.

3. I have a lack of peace/joy because of the situations in my life.
- If we believe that a death, a failed relationship, a lost job, a pay cut, depression, etc. is keeping us from having joy and peace in our life... then we have a serious heart problem. The other two statements have to do with misunderstanding of God's gift to us and the issue of pride, but this potentially could be worse. To tell the Savior, who laid down His life so that we could have life, that our external circumstances that make us uncomfortable are hindering us from experiencing peace and joy is to tell Him that we do not love and/or trust Him. If we let our comfortableness get in the way of the relationship with our Savior, then we are trading the abundant life for the things of this world. If we let a tragedy keep us from experiencing peace and joy then WE are the ones who sacrifice them because we refuse to trust in God's will over our own. These are matters of the heart and must be confronted if we are to ever experience what we are offered.

When I hear the statement that "happiness is based on our circumstances; peace and joy are based on an unchanging God" and I know that I do not have them... I am immediately convicted because it is my own sin, pride, lack of faith/trust/love that has robbed me of peace and joy. God has been waiting to lavish these in my life, and I have chosen to sacrifice them for the world.

- Christina