Pat Stark shares insightful words of encouragement and hope. Her messages are full of prophetic insight as she gives understanding to the times and seasons we live in. I believe she has important keys to share as we learn to walk victoriously through troubling times.
God instructs us to be at peace and trust in Him, but God’s peace may look a little different than what we imagine. Pat shares the following:
“How often he comes to us in a different way than we’ve previously experienced him. We think it’s the enemy, and the enemy is often involved, but God is using the situation in a different way to actually free us from false pictures we didn’t even know we had.”
This is so true! I encourage you to read this word from Pat as we continue to learn His ways while abiding in His presence and peace. Enjoy this word and be encouraged that God cares about you! Becky
Living In Peace In Troubling Times
Pat Stark
Almost everyone is feeling the effects of the turmoil of our times. You almost have to be asleep to be not affected in some way. We are also seeing the shaking play out in our own lives and affecting us personally — relationally, financially, emotionally, health wise, even our freedoms are being challenged on a daily basis. All our securities, the things we so easily trusted in, are being challenged.
Definition of Security: “The state of being free from danger or threat”
So what is God doing in us during this season of personal, national, and global uncertainty?
God often uses times like these to bring change deep within us as he allows our false foundations to be shaken and challenges the way we have interpreted life. So what are some of the things he is changing within us?
He is teaching us that “He will be the sure foundation for our times.” Isaiah 33:6:
Not our finances, our jobs, ministry, health, the government, or other people. Sadly they can all become our false securities without our even realizing it.
He is changing our ways. The way we have interpreted life and believed it was supposed to look, our false pictures of our entitlements, or even the religious pictures we have picked up along the way. Intimacy with God requires the changing of our ways of seeing.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
One of his ways is that sometimes he comes to us in a “different form” than we are used to. After Jesus had resurrected from the dead, we read in Luke 24:14-17, 19-21 NIV:
“They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel…”
How often he comes to us in a different way than we’ve previously experienced him. We think it’s the enemy, and the enemy is often involved, but God is using the situation in a different way to actually free us from false pictures we didn’t even know we had.
But we had hoped… How often is our hope deferred. We hope God will do things a different way, show up sooner than he does, or that things will turn out differently, and we are disappointed. The disciples had an earthly perspective of how they believed it was supposed to turn out, as too often, so do we.
How many times does God seem to thwart our plans! How many times throughout my life, I have silently demanded or expected God to do something in a certain way, or have needed him to come through in my picture, or in a certain timeframe, and he doesn’t. He remains silent. He leaves me hanging! And then it’s not until I finally surrender the outcome to him, that he comes and causes the phone to ring or releases something I’ve needed.
We often have an earthly, worldly, human perspective of how things need to look for us to have peace, but he is lifting us higher into seeing from his Kingdom perspective and learning to walk in his ways.
“For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.” Job 5:18 NIV
His intent is never to harm us, but he does wound us in order to heal us and to bring us to a higher level of trust in him and in his ways so that we can walk in his peace. When we come to him quietly demanding, or with our own expectations of how he should act, he is often silent.
Quote: “God is more interested in our transformation than our happiness." John Eldredge
He is breaking our boxes — the ones we have used to neatly file alway all our Christian pictures, our interpretations, and opening up our way of thinking. He is exposing our views of the way we think things need to play out in order for us to have peace, and messing with even some of our former Bible interpretations.
Instead he is teaching us to have peace in the midst of the storm, peace in the boat with him as the waves are crashing all around us. It is his storm. And it’s often in the storm with him that we discover peace right there in it’s midst. Going through our storm with him, we discover the following verses to be true:
“See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 54:16-17 NIV
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10 NIV
“My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely,” Isaiah 32:18-19 NIV
He is exposing our old survival systems. Our survival systems are the things we have trusted in to make life work for us so we can feel OK and have false peace. For Christians they can be even good things like ministry, relationships (that are actually on-dependent), our gifts, prayer, even the Bible. I used the Bible for years to get a false identity. It wasn’t until everything in my life began to fall apart that I allowed God to show me it was a false system to try to keep my life safe, and to get worth from my Bible “knowledge”.
Good things that we eat from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” come from the wrong tree and from it we get twisted motives. Instead we need to receive our peace from eating from the “tree of Life” who is Jesus. Good things can become twisted because of the motives and intents of our hearts that can be buried within us without our knowledge.
“A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2 NIV
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NIV
JESUS IS THE WAY (in the present circumstances and into our future)
JESUS IS THE TRUTH, (of life itself)
JESUS IS OUR VERY LIFE (that is fully alive!)
Pat Stark has worked with hurting people for over 30 years in the area of deep spiritual and emotion healing. She is an author and conference speaker. Her books are available on Amazon, Kindle and The Covenant Center Bookstore: The Story of Life - The Life We All Try to Find; Born To Fly - Pursuing The Life You Were Meant To Live…Free; Lost Heart? A Guide To Living From The Heart In A Broken World.