Destroying stress and anxiety, and abiding in peace, rest and trust.
Wayne Duncan
4 keys to seeing your peace.
4 keys to destroy anxiety.
4 keys to destroy stress.
4 keys to entering rest.
4 keys to abiding in the realm of trusting God.
1) We are in a covenant of peace.
It's essential to understand the covenant were in. Under the old covenant, God was angry for His people for their disobedience towards Him. He would be angry with their sin and rebellion, and would hide himself from them. God would raise up enemies against Israel. He would cause famine, he would cause lack. There was often death and destruction for disobedience! There was wrath, there was judgement!
Through the perfect sacrifice and propitiation of Jesus, were now stand in permanent right standing with God. We've entered the eternal covenant of peace.
Lets look at Isaiah 54, set against chapter 53, all about Jesus, and what He did.
Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. 6For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. 7For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. 8In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer. 9"This is like the days of Noah(Some manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah) to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. 10For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. 11"O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.(Or lapis lazuli) 12I will make your pinnacles of agate,(Or jasper, or ruby) your gates of carbuncles,(Or crystal) and all your wall of precious stones. 13All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. 14In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you. 16Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; 17no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication(Or righteousness) from me, declares the LORD."
We see a few things here.
7For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. 8In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer
God says there was a time when he looked at man in anger, and Hid His face.
This was the age of the law, the old covenant.
But through love and compassion, he created redemption, where the anger could be removed in Jesus.
9"This is like the days of Noah(Some manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah) to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.
Here God takes an oath, never to be angry with us, through the finished work of the cross.
Now we need to see that it was an oath. There is a difference between an oath and a covenant. A covenant requires two parties. It has obligations, requirements, demands, and then promises when those demands are met. An oath is different. An oath is sworn by one party. It is only as strong as the person who makes the oath. Here God swears by Himself. When God makes an oath, nothing can stop it from happening. If God were not to fulfill His oath, he would have to cease to exist to be God, fro he would have become powerless, unfaith full and a liar. But praise God, as the scriptures say, "even if we are faithless, He is faithful."
Here God says, this is like the days of Noah…what happened then? God made an oath to never again destroy the earth with water!
So an oath sworn by God happens no matter what!
What did God swear by oath here?
9"This is like the days of Noah(Some manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah) to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you
God swears that he will not be angry with us! Wow how amazing is that! Because our failing and sin fall on Jesus at the cross, we go free and do not sit under the anger of God.
Let me ask you a question….have you ever seen a mountain removed? No, and you never will.
10For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
God says that this eternal covenant of peace will never be removed.
Here we see that love, peace and compassion are the eternal permanent inheritance to the believer.
But Wayne, surely God will harm me, and bring disaster to me to teach me to be better, to teach me to be a better Christian? Lets look at verse 14-17.
. 14In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you. 16Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; 17no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication(Or righteousness) from me, declares the LORD."
This says, God will deliver us from fear, from terror and from strife. How'[s this verse…"if anyone stirs up strife, it is nor from me". This is great assurance.
You see if we don't understand this, when strife comes we accept it instead of reject it. Turmoil and strife are illegitimate authorities in our lives, we can resist them, and partner with eachother God to see them destroyed. But if we say "God has caused it", we move out of faith into a realm where there is no contention for change.
This also causes loss of relationship with God. For every bad thing that comes along is from God. Therefore we do not draw near to God, for we have all always fallen short somewhere in our lives. No the Good News of the gospel is that even though we have made mistakes, we still have peace with God for it is an eternal covenant!
Even while he is working powerfully in us, helping us to change, helping us to grow, teaching us to become who we are, empowering us to overcome sin and bondages…even as all that happens we have peace with God, and His anger is removed from us, for it fell on Jesus.
What God had effectively created is the environment for change, without the loss of relationship.
17no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication(Or righteousness) from me, declares the LORD."
Do you know that no weapon fashioned against you will succeed! Faith in this promise releases power into the promise, and that power is released into the situation. Even in the absence of power there is Gods great power permanently at work, guarding and fighting over us, and Jesus is our permanent intercessor.
This is our heritage, this is our vindication from God.
So know and see this, we have entered an eternal covenant of peace with God. The dividing wall of hostility has been removed, we have peace with God in which we now stand.
This is understanding is essential to destroying stress and anxiety in life. For we must believe that God is not punishing us with stress and anxiety for our wrong, but that instead, His will for us is to live in the peace and love and acceptance Jesus bought us through the cross.
Knowing this positions our minds and hearts to see and fight for the promises we see in the bible.
How can we fight for joy when we believe God is making us sad?
How can we fight for healing when we believe God is making us sick to punish us?
How can we trust God for our futures when we believe He is still angry with us.
Not seeing the finished work of the cross…robs the faith God wants us to have in our future.
Key 2…God is in your future.
God wants you to have faith in Him.
Faith in God is not believing that he exists. Faith in God is believing that God is Good, and that His every intention towards you is Good!
Much stress and anxiety comes when we look forward into our future, and we anticipate a day in which God is not good. We project a day ahead where God will not be our provider, lover or father. Not seeing the Goodness of God in our future then manifest in fear and anxiety.
But seeing God in our future, and knowing that in that future he will always be a good God, faithful to His covenant, to be our God and to love and care for us…we see all strife dissipate, all anxiety over the future dissolve, and we enter rest over the fear of an uncertain future.
Oh beloved if only we could see how precious we are to Him, and how much he loves us, and how committed to us he is!
This is how God sees your future.
11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD
Friends, God has a plan for you…his plan if for your wholeness!
That means that every area of your life will be whole. Every area mentally, physically and emotionally..wholeness, this is His plan.
God has hope for our future, for he has a future for us! He is in our future. There will never be a day or a moment where He will not be there right beside us.
Does this mean we will not face hardship, or storms or turmoil? No not at all! In fact Jesus said, in this life you will have turmoil. But we know that the turmoil is not from God, ne does not cause it for us, and he certainly does not abandon us when we go through hard times.
The power of this promise is that while storms rage and hard times are real, we can carry peace and joy. That is a sign and a wonder.
This scripture tells us that any heartfelt cry to God will release His presence over you.
I also love that its God initiative that causes the response in us to want Him more. He says when we see that he has a plan, when we see that he has hope , when we see that He is in our future…then we will come to Him…then we will call on him with all our hearts…when we see who He is clearly, we run to Him to find strength.
Have faith in God, know that He is Good. Know that he is not angry with you, but had made drastic plans to ensure our eternal covenant of peace with Him.
Know that everyday, God will be in the day. His love and favor is with you, His protection is with you, His love and guidance are with you, and if He is for you, who can be against you?
Get this, God loves you. That's the hope of our future
Romans 8:39
32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Were being drawn by His perfume, His love for us, His pure Goodness!
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