Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled… —John 14:27

When a dear friend expressed her distress at the current world situation, it reminded me of the words of wisdom from Oswald Chambers quoted below.

(In this instance, I feel the disobedience referred to might be letting ourselves worry. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry”- Matthew 6:25-34 )

Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. …

God’s mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, “as the world gives,” but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. …

…When I do obey God, problems come, not between me and God, but as a means to keep my mind examining with amazement the revealed truth of God. But any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems. [emphasis added]

– My Utmost for His Highest https://utmost.org/ by Oswald Chambers

When I read the last sentence above, it seems to be illuminated on the page and I feel a sense of wonder at the joy to be found if I can only trust God’s perfect will for me enough to simply watch with happy anticipation, peacefully intrigued to see what marvelous resolution He has for my difficulties. This is peace beyond understanding, indeed, but it is only achieved through complete trust in God’s perfect will for my life.  I want that.

Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers