Episode Details

The fruits of the spirit are the direct results of God’s presence in our lives. It’s the natural byproduct produced from within us when God’s Holy Spirit lives in us. Today we study the 3rd evidence that grows like fruit on a tree. Galatians 5:23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, PEACE …”

Peace. In Greek, Jesus would have often used the word ‘shalom’. It means completeness, wholeness, everything being as God intended it to be – nothing missing and nothing broken. So when Paul says the Holy Spirit grows peace, he’s not talking about someone who simply doesn’t get upset. He’s talking about a soul that has been made WHOLE by God.

This is not a guarantee of an easy life. This is not peace that comes through an absence of trouble. Oh no, Sis. This is a peace that remains regardless of the trouble. This is a divine calm in the storm and a guard for our heart in the heat of the battle.

The world says, “I’ll have peace when…” When the bills are paid. When the diagnosis changes. When my kids finally straighten up. When the relationship gets better. When life slows down.

But the Holy Spirit says, “You can have peace now.” Not because everything around you is settled, but because the One within you is settled.

Before facing the cross, Jesus tells his disciples that he is about to die and would no longer walk with them, but God would give them another Advocate who would never leave them. He is the Holy Spirit. God’s presence to live within them, teach them and guide them. Further describing this divine internal presence that’s so hard to understand, Jesus says in John 14:27, “I’m leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

There’s absolutely nothing you can do to produce this peace for yourself. There’s no meditation or deep breathing that brings this peace. There’s no soundtrack for this, no magical place on a mountaintop or hidden away in the woods. No, this peace isn’t found in the world or in yourself. It is ONLY through the presence of the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to work for it, you simply have to abide in Christ and this unspeakable peace grows.

Peace isn’t pretending everything is okay. It’s knowing that even when everything isn’t okay, God still is.

As I mentioned last week, while at our Lake Retreat, one of our really special BIG Life girls received the phone call that her husband had died. While her whole world is absolutely shattered and she has walked through this unimaginable and unexpected loss for the past week, something remarkable has happened. She has literally felt God strengthening her. When she can’t catch her breath, she says she can feel God breathing into her. In this time where nothing makes sense, not even the time of day, there is a settled peace living inside of her.

My friends, that is the Holy Spirit. Have you ever experienced that level of peace? Peace that Philippians 4:7 says, “exceeds anything we can understand. Peace that will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” It’s a settled knowing from within when everything else is spinning out of control. It’s an anchor for your soul that holds you steady when the waves come crashing against you.

But this peace isn’t reserved for times of trouble. This peace can be your constant. On the bad days and the good days. In the highs just as much as in the lows. You know when you need the peace of the Holy Spirit? … in the battle and in victory. In the storm and in the blissful sunshine.

The truth is, without God’s peace, you can be sitting in the most beautiful day of life and be radically upset. Without God’s peace you can miss the goodness of the moment and be all stirred up about things that aren’t even a real threat.

Are you in a reasonably good season of life right now? Did you wake up today without crisis or deep grief? Pa