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Grace is a very special lady. One word comes to mind when I think of her: peace. The quiet and restful expression on her face has seldom changed in the six months I have known her, even though her husband was diagnosed with a rare disease and then hospitalized.

When I asked Grace the secret of her peace, she said, “It’s not a secret, it’s a person. It’s Jesus in me. There is no other way I can explain the quietness I feel in the midst of this storm.”

The secret of peace is our relationship to Jesus Christ. He is our peace. When Jesus is our Savior and Lord, and as we become more like Him, peace becomes real. Things like sickness, financial difficulties, or danger may be present, but peace reassures us that God holds our lives in His hands (Daniel 5:23), and we can trust that things will work together for good.

Have we experienced this peace that goes beyond logic and understanding? Do we have the inner confidence that God is in control? My wish for all of us today echoes the words of the apostle Paul: “May the Lord of peace himself give you peace.” And may we feel this peace “at all times and in every way” (2 Thessalonians 3:16).

Dear Lord, please give us Your peace at all times and in every situation.

INSIGHT

Paul, Silas, and Timothy were the first to share the gospel in Thessalonica. The response to the gospel of free grace in Christ was remarkably positive (Acts 17:1–4), but—as is often the case—the positive response to the gospel was accompanied by opposition and persecution (Acts 17:5–6; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:2). Thus Paul was forced to leave the city of Thessalonica sooner than he had hoped (Acts 17:9–10). His concern for the new congregation there motivated him to write two inspired letters to that young church. As he completed his second letter, Paul stressed the peace that only Jesus Christ can offer (2 Thessalonians 3:16). The apostle was no stranger to trials, yet his confidence that everything would work out in God’s sovereignty gave him a deep, abiding peace that he wanted other believers to experience. The Prince of Peace is the source of the believer’s spiritual rest.

For further study on experiencing peace in the midst of trials see Navigating the Storms of Life at discoveryseries.org/hp061.

“Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night . . . . Everyone is just waiting”—or so Dr. Seuss, author of many children’s books, says.

So much of life is about waiting, but God is never in a hurry—or so it seems. “God has His hour and delay,” suggests an old, reliable saying. Thus we wait.

Waiting is hard. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our yawns, heave long sighs, and fret inwardly in frustration. Why must I live with this awkward person, this tedious job, this embarrassing behavior, this health issue that will not go away? Why doesn’t God come through?

God’s answer: “Wait awhile and see what I will do.”

Waiting is one of life’s best teachers for in it we learn the virtue of . . . well, waiting—waiting while God works in us and for us. It’s in waiting that we develop endurance, the ability to trust God’s love and goodness, even when things aren’t going our way (Psalm 70:5).

But waiting is not dreary, teeth-clenched resignation. We can “rejoice and be glad in [Him]” while we wait (v. 4). We wait in hope, knowing that God will deliver us in due time—in this world or in the next. God is never in a hurry, but He’s always on time.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your loving presence. Help us to make the most of our waiting through trust in and service for You.

God is with us in our waiting.

INSIGHT

David wrote Psalm 70 (a song of lament or complaint) from a place of waiting. He waited for God to deliver him, to save him from “those who want to take [his] life” and “desire [his] ruin” (vv. 1–2). We don’t know the setting and circumstances of this lament, but we do know that for years David ran from King Saul and his army who wished to kill him (1 Samuel 19:1–2, 11; 20:30–33; 21:10–15; 23:15). David also waited for years to rule Israel, even though the prophet Samuel had anointed him king while David (Jesse’s youngest son) still watched his father’s sheep and Saul still reigned (16:1–13). We see Psalm 70 stated (in slightly different words) in Psalm 40:11–17. Though David waited for deliverance—and endured hardship as he did—he was still able to exclaim wholeheartedly, “The Lord is great!” (40:16; 70:4) and “You are my help and my deliverer” (40:17; 70:5).

When have you cried out to God, longing for Him to rescue you from a difficult situation? How can you praise Him as you wait?