Here are my own thoughts/musings on the topic of peace,
particularly in connection with my personal faith and how it
enables me to cope with having CF.<br>
<br>
<b><span style=" font-size: small;">Peace and Patience<br>
</b><br>
<span style=" font-style: italic;">But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness--Galatians 5:22<br>
<br>
Galatians 5: 16-26 describe two types of people--those who live by
the spirit and those who gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
I have often thought of this list of the manifestation of the fruit
of the Spirit as qualities that we as Christians must demonstrate
to one another. While I still believe that this is true, I also
think that this fruit is part of what we cultivate on a personal
level when we commune with God. In light of Paul's description of
two types of people, I think it is important to consider the fruit
of the Spirit not only as outward expressions of our Christianity,
but rather, our inner character and our one-on-one relationship
with God.<br>
<br>
As I read verse 22, I can think of another verse that mentions joy,
patience and faithfulness. Romans 12:12 says to be "joyful in
hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." It is in
times of affliction that our relationship with God is most often
tested. If we are living in the Spirit as it says in Galatians,
then we are able to stand up to the challenges of the world. Our
strong love for God and our faithfulness to Him gives us the
fortitude we need to find peace and patience no matter what the
circumstances.<br>
<br>
I find it interesting that peace and patience are listed side by
side in this verse. Perhaps this is because you can't have one
without the other. Impatience can quickly lead to anxiety and
worry, and that is certainly not a peaceful feeling. I remember a
song I learned as a child about being patient that describes the
importance of peace and patience:<br>
<br>
<span style=" font-style: italic;">Have patience, have patience<br>
don't be in such a hurry<br>
when you get impatient<br>
you only start to worry.<br>
Remember, remember that God is patient too and<br>
think of all the times when others stopped to wait for you.<br>
<br>
Rather than think of when others have been patient with me, I think
of the times that God has been patient with me. There have been
times when I didn't like the way that God was working things out in
my life. Rather than living in the Spirit, I tried to make things
happen of my own accord. Doing so led to exactly the types of
things Paul describes about the people who live by their sinful
natures. Without patience I felt jealous (Gal. 5:20) of people who
seemed to be getting special blessings from God. I also gave in to
selfish ambitions and basically did what I wanted to instead of
what I knew God wanted me to do (Gal. 5:20). In addition to my
feelings of jealousy, I felt envious of those who didn't struggle
with the same things I did. (Gal. 5:22) Needless to say, none of
those actions were particularly peaceful.<br>
<br>
I have seen a bumper sticker that very concisely sums up the second
half of Galatians 5. It reads "No God, No peace; Know God,
Know Peace". How very true that is. It is my continual goal to
know God and to know peace. The best way I know how to do that is
to spend time with him on a regular basis, allowing him to tend to
the garden of my heart where the fruit of the Spirit can grow.<br>
<br>
<span style=" color: #000080;">Excerpted from <i>Pools of
Grace</i> <span style=" color: #000080;">copyright(c)
2000-2005 Lauren G. Beyenhof. All Rights Reserved.
