Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Peace, a Gift From God

At our weekly praise and worship service I had occasion to talk about peace, that is, the fruit of the Holy Spirit as mentioned in Galatians:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22)


When discussing peace I used examples of people who come to healing services. They are always distraught, tense, apprehensive, and yet, willing to come. We anoint them with oil, praise God, and pray. Fervently, we pray. And like a recipe, well worked out, peace comes. It comes with such joy and love, and other fruits of the Holy Spirit that it is something to be at wonder and awe about when given. Peace is a gift. A gift from God.

I reflect upon a man with leukemia who came for healing prayer. He came out of desperation for his condition. We praised God, and then we prayed. At a moment, the prayer stopped and his face was aglow with the peace that can only come from God. He received the gift of peace.

Another woman at another time came for prayer. She suffers from fibermyalgia and her body is in total pain all the time. She had a spirit of depression that overcame her. Yet, she came for healing prayer. God was praised, and she was prayed for. At a moment, she was released from her depression and found peace. Peace that is the gift of God.

All too often we wait until we've used up all our physical resources before we turn to God. Can we learn to turn to God first? Regardless of whether it's after much suffering or at the beginning of a period of suffering...if we can only learn to turn to God earlier than later we can receive a gift....that gift of peace.

1 comment:

Mark H said...

A sceptic came to our Healing On The Streets ministry recently to tell us that the body is miraculous in itself and can heal itself of many things if it is at peace. Quick as a flash, my friend said very warmly and genuinely "where do you think true peace comes from?"

:-)