1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NASB)
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
I have trouble staying in the "peace zone". The worries of life crowd out the peace and I find myself often not sleeping at night because I get to thinking about all the what-if's, especially concerning my children and their futures.
I was very encouraged with these verses this week:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NASB)The key words/phrases are always, without ceasing, in everything. When we find things to rejoice about all the time, pray without ceasing, bringing our worries to Him and give thanks in everything, peace will reign in our hearts.
16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Verse 23 calls God the God of peace. His sanctification takes place in the crucible of trials, but since He is called the God of peace, it means He will give us peace in the middle of our trials as we are sanctified through the activities above in 1 Thess. 5:16-17.
I think the most wonderful thing about this passage is that God promises to preserve us, spirit, soul and body complete without blame for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful and He will do it. Yes, our bodies may decay and die, but God will raise them up again on the last day and they will be complete. Our spirit and soul will be without blame on that day because Christ took all the blame for us on the cross.
So while I may fail at rejoicing always, praying without ceasing and giving thanks in everything at times, I need to remember that it is God who sanctifies and so I must do these things in His strength, not my own. When I fail to do them, it's because I'm trying to do it by myself. I need to go back to God in humble repentance and hang onto His faithfulness, then the peace comes.
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