A good friend posed the question about how we could have peace, how we could experience the lying down in green pastures, the refreshing waters, and the refreshing of the soul found in Psalms 23 when we have this war between the spirit and the flesh? Paul also experienced this anxiety, expressed in Romans 7:15 when he wrote that he didn't do what he wanted to do, but did what he hated. He continued writing about this battle between the flesh and the spirit with him and concluded with; "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25) John 16:33 records Jesus saying; "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” We know that there will be internal and external strife for us to deal with - we deal with either by turning to Jesus - surrendering to Him, living for Him, focusing on Him.
Our church has begun an initiative to "behold" God for 21 days - to not just focus on Him, but to truly see Him for who He is. To behold is to fix our attention upon the Lord; to attend; to direct or fix the mind on Him. Our rest, our peace only comes from the Lord - we can only experience serenity of Psalms 23 through the Lord. We first must have peace with God; that comes through surrendering our lives to Him and living for Him. Then we can have the peace of God; this entails trusting in Him, focusing on Him and day by day - sometimes moment by moment acknowledging Jesus and giving Him whatever situation we are facing; whether it is temptation, internal conflict, or external troubles. Finally, we can experience peace with the world because we have the peace of God. We can experience the serenity of Psalms 23 through all the chaos we experience in our soul and in the world.
Matthew 11:29 records Jesus saying that we are to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him - then we will find rest. The picture here is of how oxen are trained by yoking an inexperienced ox to an older, experienced ox. The yoke keeps the two oxen tied together and the younger ox "learns" by literally having to do whatever the older ox does. In this same way, Christ wants us to learn from Him and learn to live a spirit controlled life by walking closely with Him. Jesus experienced all the turmoil we face and more; yet, He remained focused on the Father and His purpose for His life. We must pull away from the busyness of life and stop and focus on the Lord as Jesus did - prayer, worship, and fellowship with believers will help us enter into His peace.
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