Convos With Con
The Fruit Speaks: Peace + Patience
Why do so many people struggle to maintain peace? I'm digging into the common peace robbers many people experience and how to overcome them. One of the most common ones being "patience". Patience is more than just a virtue; it's the key to sustaining peace.
Trusting God's timing and acting on His promises forms the bedrock of a peaceful life. I share about my current situation and navigating challenging circumstances, such as selling our home with no where to go, deciding to homeschool the girls, and leaving my secure job, to demonstrate how trusting in God's guidance strengthens our faith. My hope and prayer for this week is that you know and lean on God's truths, making it a week filled with peace and patience which ultimately leads to boldness.
Why do so many people struggle to maintain peace? I'm digging into the common peace robbers many people experience and how to overcome them. One of the most common ones being "patience". Patience is more than just a virtue; it's the key to sustaining peace.
Trusting God's timing and acting on His promises forms the bedrock of a peaceful life. I share about my current situation and navigating challenging circumstances, such as selling our home with no where to go, deciding to homeschool the girls, and leaving my secure job, to demonstrate how trusting in God's guidance strengthens our faith. My hope and prayer for this week is that you know and lean on God's truths, making it a week filled with peace and patience which ultimately leads to boldness.
It's all about peace and patience this week and, oh, I'm so glad for it because I need it, we all need it, we will always need it in this crazy world. So I'm going to jump right in and get straight to it today. I'm going to start with peace. What is your definition of peace? I'm going to start with peace. What is your definition of peace? If someone were to ask you hey, what gives you peace? How do you have peace? What would you say to them?
Speaker 1:I'm going to tell you what Jesus says to us, what his promise is to us about peace. He says in John 14, 27,. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Now I don't know about you, but that's very reassuring and very comforting that the creator of the universe is telling us that he gives us his peace. This is a gift to us and it is not the peace that the world gives. I love that because, just like last week when I talked about joy, you know, the world's definition of that is very similar to the world's definition of what gives us peace Good health, a good bank account, a perfect marriage, kids that obey all the time and are great at sports and are super smart. You know, all of that is not wrong, all those things are good, but that's what the world would say gives you peace. And Jesus is saying I give you peace that surpasses what the world says. I give you a peace that doesn't even make sense is what the world says. I give you a peace that doesn't even make sense. And then he follows it up with this, which I absolutely love. He says do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. It's a commandment. He's basically saying I already know you're going to start getting troubled and I already know you're going to be afraid, and I already know that you're going to look at your circumstances and let that surpass what I am telling you, which is that you're going to look at your circumstances and let that surpass what I am telling you, which is that you have the peace of God in you and you can get through.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I'm going to start with that, because if we know this, if we believe this, then why are so many people walking around peaceless? So many people walking around peaceless? Why do so many believers constantly look, stressed out, constantly struggle with direction in their life. They, they, they look exactly like the world, and I'm guilty of it too. We're all guilty of of responding to life's circumstances the same way the world does. But that's why it's so important for us to know the promises of the Bible, to know what God tells us, because we can very quickly get outside of what we know is true, and then we have no effect on the world around us, right? So if God's giving us this promise, he's telling us don't be troubled, he's telling us don't be afraid.
Speaker 1:What is it then that robs us of our peace? Well, I'm going to give you guys a few points. There's many things, obviously, that can rob us of our peace, but I'm going to just go over three of the big ones, at least for me. Okay, and then I think pretty much everything else stems from these three things. Okay, let's start with number one.
Speaker 1:We start to lose our peace when number one we don't trust God's timing. When we don't trust God's timing, when, basically, we're impatient Okay, when we are impatient, we are most certainly not going to be at peace. Okay is when we start snapping at the husbands, start snapping at our kids. We start getting frustrated with our jobs, maybe with our friendships. When we are impatient, peace goes out the window.
Speaker 1:Now let me read you the definition of patience. Okay, so patience is to wait expectantly, to endure long suffering and to hope for. So the Bible tells us that patience, you guys, is to wait expectantly. It's a different type of waiting than the world would wait for. The world's type of patience is just wait and hopefully something plops on your lap and then there you go. We have world's type of patience is just wait and hopefully something plops on your lap and then there you go. We have a different type of patience. We have a patience that means we wait expectantly, knowing, hoping for. We hope for hope, for what we hope for God's promises to be revealed. We put our hope in what he already told us, which is the fact that he gives us his peace right. So it's to wait with an expectant hope to endure. Now, I don't know if you guys have had to wait for anything in your life for very long or if there are any particular moments that you could look back and go. Yeah, that was. I had to really, really sit with the Lord on that one and some of the times that I have been the closest to God are the times that I have had to wait the longest, and he allows these long sufferings, so to speak, sometimes in our lives so that we do sit with him, we do draw close to him.
Speaker 1:You guys, I'm going to read you one of my favorite verses in the Bible and it is one of my favorite promises of the Bible. Okay, it is Isaiah 40, 31. Many of you know it. It says those who wait in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow faint. They will. They will sorry, they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. Now, that is encouraging. Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.
Speaker 1:Any of you need any strength right now, and if you feel like you're a little bit weary with any particular area of your life, here's the promise for you, those who wait on the Lord. What does that mean? Sit around and wait for God to plop something on your lap? No, it means what I just told you. It means to wait expectantly, to be diligent about spending time with him in the waiting. You're not just sitting around twiddling your thumbs. You're sitting with him, you're digging into his word. You're not just sitting around twiddling your thumbs, you're sitting with him, you're digging into his word. You're fellowshipping with other believers. You're around other mentors that you can glean from, and this is a promise that you're going to renew your strength. You're going to soar in wings like eagles. I want that. You know what that means. It means that you're going to be able to rise above the eagles, fly above the storm. You're going to be able to rise above and see a big picture vision and a big picture view of whatever it is that you're waiting on right now.
Speaker 1:Now, I'll be the first to admit I don't really like to wait, you guys. It's not in my nature. I'm not necessarily a person that can just sit and go. You know, now, let's just walk through this. Let's think I'm the person that's like let's go, we'll figure it out once we're there. We got this. That's my personality and there are great things about it, but there are obviously some you know drawbacks of that type of personality. I get things done, I make things happen, I want to move and let's just go, and oftentimes when I do that, I go wow. You know what. Maybe I should have just paused a little bit there. Maybe I should have pressed the brakes. Maybe I should have given it a minute to really hear from the Lord.
Speaker 1:You're never going to go wrong, you guys, when you spend time with God and when you wait. There is going to be pressure all the time from the world saying make this decision, move there, do this. You know you gotta get back to me right now. The world is fast-paced and it's not waiting for anybody. But you are never going to go awry by sitting with the Lord and spending time with Him and saying I really need to wait on the Lord to make a very clear decision and to really get some direction here. The Lord to make a very clear decision and to really get some direction here. You're never going to go south, so just know that. I would rather err on the side of possibly missing the boat, which you're not, because God's timing is always right, on time. He's never late, he's never early in your life. I would rather err on sitting with the Lord than making a decision that I then regret or have to backtrack later, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:I want to have this kind of strength, the strength that allows me to soar like an eagle, you guys, above the storm, to be able to run and not grow weary and to be able to walk and not grow faint. You know what that means. It means, basically, you're going to be able to have supernatural strength, you guys, and do things that are not possible in your own strength. And all of this only comes when you spend time with the Lord. I absolutely love this promise of the Bible, and you know what's so cool is right before verse 31, of the Bible. And you know what's so cool is right before verse 31,. He says hey, did you not know? Have you not heard? He's basically saying guys, where are you at? Do you not know the God of the universe? Do you not know that he will never grow weary, he will never tire? And so he's basically like shaking him, saying, guys, wake up. You have this strength, you can tap into that. He's giving it to you, but you got to wait on him. You got to allow him to be your strength. So when we are impatient, we lose peace, guys, when we are impatient, we lose peace. We are trying to do things in our own strength, and you know there's many instances in the Bible.
Speaker 1:If you read all the stories you guys David being one of them where they had to wait. They had to wait on the Lord to fulfill His promises and it was not easy. They had trials in that waiting time and you and I are going to go. You and I are no different. That's why I love reading the Bible so much. That's why I love all of the stories in the Bible, because they so encouraging, because each one of those people are just like us. They were messed up. They were broken people who trusted in the Lord and his promise and did not necessarily see it come to be fulfilled in their timetable. And yet God still fulfilled it and God still used them. Okay, I love this too.
Speaker 1:On waiting on the Lord, here's a good sorry, I'm trying to find it. Here's a good encouragement for us Okay, be brave and be courageous. In Psalm 27, 14, again, it says wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. So many times in the Bible we are told to wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord. But it's always followed with be strong and take heart. I love that. It's basically saying it's going to take some courage. It's going to take some strength. It is not going to be easy, but it is going to be worth it. It is going to be so worth it. When you wait on the Lord, you will see things and you will grow more than you've ever grown. Waiting has many benefits. Okay, waiting has many benefits.
Speaker 1:And again, we're not just waiting like sitting around, we're trusting. Wait and trust are interchangeable in the Bible many times, just like in Isaiah 40, 31, when I just read wait on the Lord and you'll renew your strength. Other versions of the Bible say trust in the Lord, put your hope in the Lord and you will renew your strength. So wait and trust mean the same thing. Oftentimes, when we are impatient, it's because we do not trust. We do not trust. Okay, be brave, be courageous and wait on the Lord with a confident expectation and hope. Oh, I love it so much, you guys, I love it so much. All right.
Speaker 1:So, number one when we don't trust God's timing, we start to lose our peace. What else? Well, number two when we're pursuing things that God hasn't asked us to pursue, we start to lose our peace. When we are pursuing things that God has not asked us to pursue, we start getting stressed and depressed. It's called being outside of God's will. When we are outside of God's will and we could say the opposite as well when we are not doing what God's asking us to do maybe he's telling you I've been asking you to do this and you've been too afraid. You've been hesitant, you've been, you know, maybe lazy, you've been doubtful. Whatever it is, whether you're pursuing something God's not asking you to pursue or you're not doing what he is asking you to do, you're going to lose your peace. You're going to start to feel uneasy.
Speaker 1:I think this is one of the greatest problems we have today, along with obviously being impatient, is that too many people are outside of what God is asking them to do, and some of you are exhausted and confused because you're trying to achieve things God has never asked you to achieve and you have expectations of yourself he has never asked you to do. I had in my Bible study the other week. It was so good. She basically said that. Basically said this that some of you are so uneasy. You have lost your peace because of a failed expectation of something God has never asked you to do. You failed at something. You're all stressed about it, you have no peace about it, you're beating yourself up about it. It and God's like but I didn't even ask you to do that, I didn't even ask you to go there. We put these expectations on us, sometimes that are misguided, and we try to do things in our again, our own strength.
Speaker 1:How do you know you're in God's will? How do you know you're doing what God's asked you to do? I think this is one of the biggest questions I personally get from people is how do I know God's will? How do I know where I'm supposed to be? How do I know where I'm supposed to go? Well, this is the best thing about him. He's not trying to have any secrets with you. He's not trying to confuse you and hide things from you. He wants you to follow his will. He's going to give it to you, but so many of us don't want to do the things. It requires to know what that is. So if you want to know God's will, you simply need to know God. We focus so much on what is God's will. What is God's will? What does God want me to do instead of? Who is God? What is God? Just get to know him.
Speaker 1:When you get to know God, all else will be revealed. Bible tells us in Matthew 6, seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added unto you. Everything you're worrying about your job, your family, your health, your relationships, where you live all of these things are things that we think about all the time Money, money, money. We're always thinking about money. And Matthew 6, all of Matthew is fantastic, but read Matthew 6. It's talking about the worries of the world, the things that consume our mind, rob us of our peace. And he says if you seek first God, just seek him, don't worry about his will. Don't worry about that will be revealed in getting to know him. When you get to know somebody, you guys, you get to know who they are. You get to know their character, you get to know.
Speaker 1:As I've spent time with Phil, of being 15 years with him, you guys, I know him. I know how he's going to respond to certain things. I know what he's going to say to me when I ask certain questions. I know his desires of his heart. I know what makes him motivated. I know what makes him frustrated, because I know him. So if I want to know Phil's will, if Phil wants to know mine. If Phil wants to know what makes Connie happy, then he's going to get to know me, and it's the same with God. You guys, when you want to know his will for your life, you simply get to know him.
Speaker 1:This is why I do Bible studies. This is why I wake up super early when I'm actually extremely exhausted and didn't sleep, which today is one of them. So if this study today is a little wonky, that's why. But I'm pushing through anyways, you guys, because I want to get the goods out to you, but I'm tired. I'm real tired. I didn't sleep good at all, but I have to get up every morning and spend time with the Lord in the peace and quiet, before the girls and before the chaos of the day and before all the things are going to happen. I want to get to know him because I know that is the key to hearing his voice throughout the day and that is the key to hearing his voice on the bigger issues.
Speaker 1:Of things that I am waiting on, you guys Seek him, get quiet with him, get in some Bible studies, go to Bible study. There's so many. We're so blessed now with social media and obviously all the virtual things and you guys, you can do anything from home. Like I told you, I just finished Elijah with Priscilla Shire. Go get that one. That changed my life, changed my life the last six months. Now I'm into her other one, discerning the Voice of God. But there's so many good ones. Hers are fantastic. If you want to start with those, maybe get some buddies.
Speaker 1:If you're new to the faith and you're not someone who can just kind of dig through it on your own yet and it's a little confusing and you get a little squirrely and you need that mentorship. That is why you go, get involved in a Bible study. That is why you get in a small group, because you have the guidance of some seasoned women who are going before you that can walk through it with you. Okay, but you know, if you want to know God's will, if you want to have peace in your life, with where you are and where you are going, with your family, etc. Etc. Etc, then you need to be spending time with God. You guys, you cannot be listening to the voices of the world more than you are listening to the voice of God and expect to have the peace of God. It's just not going to happen. You can't be on social media and listening to podcasts even this one and your friends and your family more than you are listening to God in His Word.
Speaker 1:It's kind of like if I were to be driving a car and I got lost on my way somewhere and my you know maps wasn't working on my phone. If I wanted to get to my destination, would I just go? You know what? I'm just going to keep driving and hopefully I'll probably just end up there. I got to keep driving, I'll get there eventually. No, that's insanity. Nobody would do that. You would slow down, you would pull over, you would the car and you would go talk to somebody. Go grab somebody else's phone that's working, go figure it out to get the direction that you need. You wouldn't simply keep driving and expect to arrive there.
Speaker 1:And yet we do this in our lives. We say I don't know where God wants us to be, I don't know where I'm supposed to be going, but I'm just going to keep going at the same pace, doing the same things, and somehow expect that I'm going to hear something different. It's not going to happen. Pause the brakes, pull the car over to the side of the road, spend time with him. You guys Spend the necessary time with him to get to know him, and by getting to know him, you're going to get to know his will.
Speaker 1:Okay, the third thing, you guys, and the last thing that is 100% a surefire way to rob you of your peace, is we don't believe God's promises. We don't believe what we say we believe. We don't actually believe it, or, worse yet, maybe you don't even know God's promises. How do you know you believe what you say you believe? Well, you're going to act on it. You know, my pastor always would say you only believe the parts of the Bible that you actually live out, and I fully, fully agree with that statement. You guys, how do you know you believe God's promises? Well, you're going to be tested. Okay, you're going to get many opportunities in your life to test what you believe.
Speaker 1:In James 1, 2-4, it says the testing of your faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. You guys, that's an incredible thing to know and to hope in. Is that, yes, you're going to be tested. Okay, this is a promise of the Bible as well, that you're going to go through hard times. Anybody that tells you that once you're a Christian or you put your faith in God, all is well. Absolute lie, right, yes, all is well in the end. And yes, god will guide us through everything and we have him through everything. He will never leave us, he will never abandon us and we have his promises to stand on. But it doesn't mean it's going to be easy and perfect. No, no, no, we're going to be tested.
Speaker 1:We're going to have an opportunity to actually live out what we say we actually believe. And why, why, why are we going to be tested? So that it tells us right here, we develop perseverance. Why do we need perseverance? Because perseverance is going to make us mature and complete, and I want to be mature and complete. I want to be mature in my faith. Why? So that I can make an impact in the world, so that I can actually be a light.
Speaker 1:Me saying that I believe in God and posting cool Bible verses here and there is not helping anyone know more about God. Me responding to life's circumstances that are very tough in a way that honors God and shows people wow, she's got something else going on. She doesn't really gossip. Even though she had the opportunity to, she didn't really, you know, go down into a full dark place, even though, yeah, she could easily be in a dark place. Right now she's truly out here putting her trust in God.
Speaker 1:You guys, that's what I want to be. I want to be someone that is not trying to be perfect and show people that I'm some perfect Christian, because it's not, it doesn't exist. But I want to be somebody that shows people. You know I have all the problems that you do, but I also have promises to stand on that I know are true, because I have seen them do it in my life before. See, the cool thing about when you've walked with God long enough, you guys, is that you understand that every single trial that comes your way is an opportunity to grow in your faith, to get stronger and to be an even brighter light to everyone around you. You can't really know the depth of your character until you see how you react under pressure. Okay, this is how we know who you are, how you are about, what you say you're about, right, you guys.
Speaker 1:I've had the past six months. Some of you know a little bit of my story, but there's nothing peaceful about it on paper. Nothing peaceful about it, okay, started about six months ago. God's like you know what. You're going to sell your house. Okay, god, what? The house that I just poured so much into, I made it my own, we worked hard to obviously get. Yeah, you're going to sell your house and you're going to go rent for a while. Okay, where are we going? I don't know. You're going to just rent. Okay, lord, sold the house. Also, you're going to start homeschooling. Excuse me, what, lord? I've never wanted to homeschool a day in my life. What do you mean? My kids love their school. You're going to homeschool, because of which I didn't know at the time what your daughter's going through with her health issues. You're going to homeschool. Okay, god, there we go. Oh, and also, you're going to walk away from the job that you've been at for the past seven and a half years and let go of all that security, with all of that income which, mind you, was not small. It was a massive decision to do. Okay, lord, what are you bringing me next that's going to fulfill that income? No, didn't give you that yet.
Speaker 1:My whole past six months, you guys, has been the Lord asking me to take drastic steps of faith, with actually nothing else to move into next. So I don't know about you, but that's kind of not peaceful, especially according to the world. The world doesn't say that. The world goes don't you do anything until you have the next step ready. Oh, that's not wisdom. That's not wisdom, that's kind of crazy. Yeah, don't do that. Don't do that.
Speaker 1:I'm not out here worried about what the world's doing. I don't want to live like the world. I know what I know that I know, which is that when God asks me to move or when God asks me to stand still, I simply need to obey, and all of these things will be added. Just like it says in Matthew, if I seek Him first, if I follow and obey what he's telling me to do, I don't need to worry about anything. I've seen it time and time and time again in my life. I have taken drastically bold steps that did not make any sense, and they won't.
Speaker 1:You guys, waiting on the Lord and moving with the Lord and grooving with the Lord and having the peace of God is going to often look completely contradictory to what the world says, and that's how you know you're really in the will of God. It excites me. It doesn't mean it's not scary. I still get scared, I still get doubtful, I get upset. I'm like, okay, lord, I've been waiting long enough. I get all the feelings, but I do not allow those feelings to override what I know is true. Okay, what I know is true. So, you guys, if you are not believing the promises of God, you'll be able to tell, because it will show in how you react to life circumstances and it will show in how you live your life. And I encourage you that if you're in that season, you're like you know what. I don't really don't think I am.
Speaker 1:Maybe you need to re-familiarize yourself or maybe, for the first time ever, get to know what those promises actually are, because those are so ingrained in my heart now but because, again, I've walked with him so long and I know him that I don't even have to bat an eye, even though I do sometimes. I don't have to bat an eye when he asks me to do wildly crazy things, because I know his promises. I know he's going to provide, I know he's going to strengthen me through it. I know he's going to excuse me, use me for good through it. You know when you're waiting on God, you guys, he's going to do often three things he's either going to fulfill the desire of your heart he's going to, number two, change the desire of your heart or, number three, he's going to use you in the midst of it while you're still waiting. It's just absolutely glorious, you guys. It's a win-win-win-win-win-win-win all the way around.
Speaker 1:One of the promises of the Bible that I want you guys to do for our little exercise this week, just like we did last time, is Psalm 23. A lot of you know it. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want you guys. A lot of you know Psalm 23, but I want you to look at it through the lens of the same way we did last week. Okay, I want you to read through Psalm 23, and I want you to highlight every single promise that God is giving you in that chapter, and I want you to write them all down, as many as you can find. I did this as well, and this is what I came up with Psalm 23.
Speaker 1:These are promises to myself. These are things I can take to the bank when I wait on the Lord and when I actually accept the peace that God gives me. And it's this. I shall not be in want, I will have rest, I will not be rushed. I will be restored in my soul. God will guide me. I will not fear any evil. God will comfort me. God prepares what's ahead. God anoints me. My cup will be overflowing. Goodness and love will follow me wherever I go and I will dwell in God's house forever.
Speaker 1:Now I don't know about you, but those are some strong promises that covered every basis. It covered all of them. I won't have to be worried about anything. God's going to be there comforting me when I'm sad. God's going to lift me up. God's going to take care of my enemies. God's going to take care of my fears. God's going to take care of my bills. God's going to plug in whatever you need to plug in.
Speaker 1:But go through Psalm 23,. You guys and I promise you that if you sit with the Lord and you ask him this week to just remind you of those promises, your peace is going to be restored. You guys are going to go. You know what? Yeah, my situation might not change, but I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river, just like the good old song that we sang in Sunday school. Right, I've got peace like an ocean. I've got peace. I want peace like a river that means it's constantly flowing and I want peace like an ocean that means the depths are unfathomable. And I do have it, guys. I do have it, even though I'm right here with you, sitting in a waiting season, so to speak, of so many things I'm expectant.
Speaker 1:I have an expectant hope for what I already know God is doing and working on in and through me, and so I'm going to leave you with this, all of this, to say, you guys, these three things, you guys, when we do these three things okay, when we do have God's peace, when we're trusting his promise, when we are patient and when we're walking in his will for our lives. 2 Corinthians 3.12 tells us this. Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. That is my hope and prayer for you this week that you would lean on these verses, that you would lean on his truths and his promises, you guys, so that you are very bold. I want you to be so bold this week, you guys, in some of the decisions that some of you are going to make and that's going to stem out of the time with the Lord, that's going to stem out of you waiting on Him and seeking Him. So let's go make it a great week, you guys. Peace and patience. Love you all so much. We'll be back next week, thank you.