Series: Stressed Week 8: The Great Beyond
HOW DO I KEEP GOD’S PEACE IN CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND MY CONTROL? A shift in focus.
Right focus: we can maintain a sense of peace. Wrong focus: stressed.
(1) Look Out: focus on circumstances. The danger: it keeps our sights on our circumstances.
(2) Look In: focus on self. The danger: there’s nothing we can do to regain control.
(3) Look Up: focus on God.
Mark 4:36-41. Key principle: Our circumstances do not shape the way we view God; God shapes the way we view our circumstances.
GOD IS ACTIVE. AMOS 4:13. 5 verbs that describe God’s activity in our world: forms, creates, reveals, turns, and treads. John 5:17
God’s activity in our world is powerful.
God’s activity is wise.
God’s activity is present.
PSALM 46:1.
GOD IS SOVEREIGN over all things, including circumstances. Amos 4:13. COLOSSIANS 1:17.
GOD IS PERSONAL. Amos 4:13. PROVERBS 18:10.
ROMANS 10:13.
Life is a stress test, a series of stress tests. Each day, life throws stressors at us. When life sends stressors, resist the temptation to try to figure out what you’re going to do about it. That will only lead to fearful concern & awareness of your inabilities & limits—stress.
Choose to be filled with God’s peace. And as you experience that peace, I hope and pray you’ll share it with others. The more you know the wonder of God’s peace filling every moment of your everyday life, the more you should declare the goodness of that peace to anyone willing to listen.
