A Mind of Peace or a Piece of Mind???

Yep.  God saw that; He knows you were wronged.  He’s got enough time for you personally; He didn’t just wind up the world and walk away.  Here’s what David said about God in Psalm 139 (verses 1-7):

• O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up.
• You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
• You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
• You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
• You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
• Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
• I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

You can’t get away from God’s presence.  If you’re shaking your fist, God sees that.  But if you’ve been wronged and you look to God for justice and peace, He sees that too.

True, Jesus never lost a parking spot at the mall, but He’s not some aloof celestial being either. He knows what it’s like to be human. He knows what it’s like to be wronged. And He knows what it’s like to be tempted to do wrong.  The writer of Hebrews put it like this (Hebrews 4:15):  

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

The High Priest is Jesus.  He faced temptation in the wilderness.  He cried when a friend died.  He know what it was like to be a human.

Eeyors of the world take heart; Your value is in God, not in what others think of us. 

But prideful, self-sufficient ones be warned:  Your value is in your relationship with God, not in what you have or do.

You probably remember what Jesus told Nicodemus one evening (John 3:16-17):

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Before saying that, Jesus told this religious man, “You must be born again.”  Your value isn’t in what you do, it’s in what God does through you.  Here’s how Paul put it (Galatians 2:19-20):

For when I tried to keep the (Jewish) Law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

“Crucified with Christ” sounds pretty crude.  But Paul’s saying that the things he does doesn’t define his value; God values Paul (and us) because Jesus died for us.

So if we keep that in mind instead of trying to constantly defend our own evaluation of who we are, we’ll be less likely to lash out at someone.  And we’ll be more likely to be a peace with ourselves and with the people around us.

Yes, you WERE wronged!  Somebody did a bad thing to you and you’re right in recognizing that this person needs to pay a price of some sort.  But we have the freedom to leave that to God.  WE don’t have to set things right.  Here’s what Paul told the Romans (Romans 12:17-19):

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;  I will pay them back,”   says the Lord.

Billy Graham once commented that he “read to the end of the book- God Wins!“

God Wins!  Just take a look at the final chapters of Revelation; God certainly gives His enemies “a peace of His mind”!!!  Because of that, we can rest in the Peace of His justice.

Parking spaces right by the door may not always open before us, but God knows what we need and He provides for us.  In Matthew 6 (the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus tells the crowd to keep things in perspective.  Don’t worry about life’s necessities, or even about little things like parking spaces.  God will provide (verses 25-27):

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Instead of worrying and focusing on the things you need, “seek the kingdom of God.”  In other words, trust God and know that your value is in your relationship with Him (verses 31-33):

So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

True, He may not always give you a parking spot right by the door.  But if God supplies our basic needs so that we’re free to seek Him instead of those needs, then maybe we shouldn’t worry so much when someone steals our parking spot.

We’re not alone!  God has given us the opportunity to be surrounded by other Christians who will help us.  The Church is God’s way of providing our needs, giving us encouragement, giving us comfort and love, and for giving us a value that’s not rattled when somebody cuts us off. 

Jesus said that when someone loves us (or fails to love us), it’s as if that person is loving (or not loving) Him.  Jesus takes us under His wing and takes us personally.  Here’s what He said in Matthew 25:34-40:

 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.  I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

If someone does us wrong, Jesus knows it because the wrong was done to Him too.  We don’t have to give a piece of our mind.  God, through the love of His Church, will give us a Mind of Peace.

God’s not telling us to turn a blind eye, and live in a world of “ignorance is bliss” or “Don’t worry, be happy!”.  Our relationship with injustice isn’t to ignore it.  But we diffuse anger and claim peace when we simply place our trust in God’s justice.  God wants us to be free from worry and anger.  He wants us to be joyful!

When Paul wrote Galatians, he was in agony about how they had turned from the faith.  He then implored them (Galatians 4:15):   “What has happened to all your joy?”

Anger and turning our thoughts inward robs us of of the peace and Joy that God wants us to have.  Here’s how Solomon put it (Proverbs 17:22)…

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.“

God doesn’t want us to have a “broken spirit.”  How can we love Him and serve Him if our focus on ourselves?  Anger saps a person’s strength.  (for more on this thought, check out Pastor Jim’s 1016 Camp Meeting Sermon, “What Ever Happened to Laughter?….)