1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian 8 - Blessed are the peacemakers | Page 8

Friday
Reading: Mark 14 v 32 – 42
All of the contemplations of our devotionals this last week have been negative by
nature. We said that peace with God is lost at the point of sin and at the point of the
externals of your life being in disarray and at the point of poor theology. Today’s
thesis is based upon a more positive notion and that is simply this: peace is lost at
God Gives
Burden
urden.
the point When God Gives You a Burden.
This I believe is a legitimate form of “peacelessness” and it is generally out of this
peace-less condition that many people respond to make an enormous difference in
the world around them. If you read some of the great biographies and know some of
the great stories of some of the heroes of the Christian faith, you will see how true
this is. Mother Theresa, for instance lost her peace at the point of God giving her a
burden for the hopelessness of people in Calcutta. William Wilberforce, in the 18th
century, lost his peace when God gave him a burden for the people who were being
used as slaves. George Müller lost his peace when God gave him a burden for the
plight of orphans. The ultimate example would have to be Jesus, who lost His peace
when God gave Him the burden of YOU…
In the Garden of Gethsemane, as per the reading today, it says that Jesus was
troubled in His spirit. In the words that we are using in our devotions this week, it
can well be said that Jesus lost His peace at the point of the burden that God gave
Him for you. Isn’t it amazing that it is through this “peacelessness” and restlessness
of spirit that God uses people. The Bible is full of these types of stories. Personally, I
love the story of Moses, in Exodus 2, where Moses’ heart was broken and his
personal peace was lost when he saw the abuse of a fellow Israelite by an Egyptian
soldier. This peacelessness caused, within Moses, a holy discontent, where he said, “I
just can’t stand that anymore” and it moved him to stand in the defence of the
Israelite man. When God gives you a burden for something, or someone, then peace
will be lost. It is not your peace with God that is being tested, but it is the peace with
yourself that is on the line. The question that you need to ask yourself today is, are
there things that you have seen in the world around you that disturb you in your
spirit. Look at the issues of poverty, and the plight of those affected by HIV/AIDS,
homeless children and injustices. It is I believe a burden for these things that will
motivate you to get involved and to do something that would be of benefit to the
suffering people around you. Do not ignore these feelings of peacelessness; I
encourage you to act upon them and to align yourself with other people with a
similar burden in order to do what you can to address the issues which have stolen
your peace.