At this day and age, we are prone to be bombarded and surrounded by various deafening noises and destructive voices, fighting for our attention and affection.  In addition to these, a hurried pace is evident, robbing us of our solitude, silence and stillness.  It is therefore imperative nowadays to fight a good fight of faith to enter into the realm of peace.

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)

The perfect representation on how to be in quietude is Jesus Himself while He was on earth.  Early in the morning, before a chaotic scene came forth, He constantly found time to distance Himself into the secret place, to be alone and intimately commune with the Father.  This precious time of undisturbed state caused His strength to be heightened before He faced the multitudes with all their demands and religious oppositions.  He chose His flow of peace at the day dawning that set His pace for the day.

Jesus found it of utmost importance to consistently fellowship with the Father, thus, we have seen Him time and time again to be in perfect tune with Him as a result of such.  He walked absolutely and flawlessly one with the Father that He only said what He heard Him speak and He only did what He saw Him do. 

On one occasion, when more reports about Him spread about the miracles, signs and wonders that He did, great crowds gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their infirmities.  But, Jesus would withdraw Himself from the crowd to a desolate place and pray.  Oh how He valued His time with the Father to the uttermost.

Jesus’ oneness with the Father was His most precious treasure that at the Garden at Gethsemane, before He was betrayed by Judas, He knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.” (Luke 22:42) Why did He say so?  It was all because He was about to enter the phase of what He was born for, “For our sake God made Him sin at the cross Who knew no sin, so that IN HIM you and I might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).  He knew that for sin to be imputed to Him, it came with the high price of being separated from the Father which He never experienced all His life on earth.   This was the agony in the garden, to give up His deep uninterrupted fellowship with the Father.  Yet because of His great love and reverence for the Father and His great love for us, He said, “Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him. He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood (Luke 22:42-44).

If Jesus found this secret strategy necessary to constantly and consistently fine tune Himself to the frequency of the Father by spending time alone with Him, how much more for us?  His life on earth is one powerful invitation for us to do the same. 

Another indispensable scheme that Jesus had was that He was never in a hurry.  He always found time to stop for one who was in need of Him.  He knew that He was not operating subject to time.  He chose His momentum where He could effectively and efficiently express love to everyone who believed in Him and was open to receive from Him.

Haven’t you noticed that when we are in a hurry, more often than not, we put ourselves out of the flow of peace.  We tend to forget and overlook some things.  We live our day with many people around us go unnoticed.  Our personal relationships are at stake.  You see, hurry takes away our ability to love and love is patient.

When Jesus heard that Lazarus was dead, He just did not hurriedly pack His things up and head towards him.  Instead, He stayed where He was for a couple more days because He knew that when one rules and reigns in life, no amount of opposition, not even death, can withstand the power that one is anointed with.  He knew that it is all for the glory of God so that the Son of God will be glorified through it (John 11:4). 

 Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with Him (Acts 10:38).  His steps were ordered according to the unforced rhythm of time that He was always found at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing and with the right heart.

Meditating on these things created a great stir in my heart to carve out more of my intentional time with the Lord our God.  One cannot just live life as usual when the unveiling of the truth comes.  It summons us to be imitators of Christ, seeking diligently to be in His presence.  Our deep communion with God eventually produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), that people around us may taste and see how good the Lord our God is through us.

Recently, I was in the midst of a money-issue obstacle.  Two of my dear friends were in a financial battle, a lender-borrower agreement.  One willingly lent with an expectation to be paid back within the week.  Unfortunately, the other party was not able to pay within the said time frame.  Because the lender also had previous commitments and dues, not having the payment on time incurred quite a high interest.  This could have been avoided if they were in communication, but it did not happen that way.  Since both of them were telling me their side of the story, I was bothered because it was no longer pleasurable to witness.  It pained my heart to see this decades-long friendship tearing apart. It was something I never could imagine that it would come up to this intensified degree of conflict.

One night, while I was worshiping, I brought this up in prayer.  I was inquiring of the Lord how I could be of help.  I was fully persuaded that since this came into my view, there must be something that He needed for me to do, for He is the God of Love, the God of Unity and He works in and through us.

I was awakened very early the next morning.  It was an odd time and I knew that when this happens, instructions must be imminent.  I got out of bed and prayed.  This He impressed in my heart, “Pay the full amount, including the interest, and wait for your friend to be able to pay you back WHENEVER, no pressure.”  Hmmm … I said, “Yes, Lord!” 

I did not have money yet in my bank account when this directive came, but I have a little amount due to be withdrawn the following week.  You see, God knew that I have something to spare at a perfect time to offer peace to both of them.  He said, “Be the peacemaker!”  And He reminded me of this verse, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

When the time came, I messaged the lender that I will take care of the full amount with interest and asked her to stop the war of words that was going on, and thankfully she agreed.  Then, I got a message from the borrower’s sister that she’ll take care of the principal amount.  Praise the Lord!  So, I was left with the interest to spend. 

Three days later, my friend who was the borrower messaged me that she wanted to attend church with me, as she is of a different faith.  I quickly said yes, because we do not let oppotunities like these where seeds of God’s word and His goodness will be sown into her heart.  I met with her and we went to church together.

The preacher’s message was about finding time to be in the presence of God and that time equals love.  When you love someone, you always find time to be with that someone no matter what it costs.  And just as the preacher said, “Time equals love.”, my friend reached out to me and handed me her Silver Swatch Watch, then, she turned to me and said, “Thank you for your time.”  I was stunned and very touched by her gesture of appreciation and later on, she handed me and paid me back the interest that I spent.  Hallelujah!!!  Praise the Lord!!!

Our lives indeed are not just lived for us, our needs and our wants alone.  You and I are extensions of His love in action.  At times He leads us to meddle a chaotic scene to bring peace that costs.  “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

I remembered David who said that he will never offer God something that costs him nothing.  We aren’t called to keep all that we have, for His Word says, “We are BLESSED to be a BLESSING” however it seems fitting to the situation we are in.   

“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.   And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” 

We are heirs of Abraham in Christ, therefore this call still holds true to today.

This spiritual discipline of carving out our intentional time with God is such a precious and considered to be the primary commodity that brings forth peace in our daily dealings in life.  As we delight ourselves in Him, He graces us to delight with those around us.  Our communion and fellowship with Him enables us to be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit Who is resident in us.  He guides us into all truth, endeavoring to lead us in our personal path to take that brings peace, exudes love and infuses joy to those around us.  He is our Personal Helper Who makes us like Jesus and it is He Who is effectually at work in us, energizing us, creating in us the power and desire both TO WILL and TO DO for His own pleasure, satisfaction and delight.

Today, when we hear His voice, may we not harden our hearts.  Instead, may we be willing and obedient so that we shall eat the good of the land.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the Best of Heaven, Jesus Christ, Who is our Prince of Peace.  Truly, no amount of peace can be attained apart from Him in our lives.   Jesus, thank You, for being with us always.  Only in You we find perfect peace.  In this world we surely have trials and tribulations, but because You are the Hope of Glory in us, we can always and continually be of good cheer for You have overcome the world of its power to harm us and have conquered it for us.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, for being our Divine Helper Who always aids us, leads us and fills us unceasingly with God’s love that fuels us to live victoriously.  Amen!

Photo Credits: Melai Felicidario; Amsterdam