December 13, 2023 • 23 mins
Do you wonder how to find peace in the midst of life's trials and tribulations? It's time to debunk the myth that peace is reliant on external circumstances. Instead, let's embrace a peace that surpasses all understanding; a divine peace rooted in trust and faith. Together, we'll explore how to tap into this transformative power and invite you on a healing journey, one that intertwines the grace of God and the warmth of our community. Let's walk hand in hand and foster our relationship with Him, discovering peace amidst chaos. Let's walk towards a blessed future, hand in hand.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lee 2 2.
Hello and welcome to the firstepisode of Will you Walk With Me
(00:33):
.
My name is Reverend Dr KathySklenar Studwell.
I'm an Episcopal priest inNorthern New Jersey and I have a
Doctor of Ministry degreefocusing on learning about the
art of inviting a scene in theGospel of John and First John.
I also have an undergraduatedegree in psychology, but would
consider my many years in my ownpersonal therapy as more
(00:56):
helpful in my own life, ministryand what I would like to use as
a foundation for thediscussions on this podcast.
My producers, andrew andCatherine, came to me with an
idea about doing a podcast totalk about the Bible and other
sacred texts and the coolministries we have at our church
, st Bartholomew's.
(01:17):
I think they might have seenthe perplexed look on my face
when they first approached meand after a period of silence,
andrew asked me well, kathy,what is on your heart?
Where did I think God wasleading me?
And I automatically knew theanswer.
(01:37):
I wanted to talk about howJesus walks with us in the
challenges of life.
More specifically, where isJesus when we are facing anxiety
, depression, other mentalhealth crisis?
The title of my podcast, willyou Walk With Me, came from my
(01:57):
personal experience of isolationand fear of a lonely prison of
my own making.
If I said isolation and fear topeople who know me, they would
look at me with a really strangelook and say something like you
, isolation.
I am an outgoing person wholoves to meet people.
I'm blessed with a greathusband, children, my dogs,
(02:21):
family, friends, a wonderfulcongregation spiritual director
and a trusted therapist who Ihave been with for many years.
Therapy has been a strong partof my self-care program, along
with yoga, meditation and a newstudy that I've been working on,
mindfulness.
We will talk about these greattools in future episodes.
(02:44):
But getting back to isolation,the pandemic was really, is
really a sneaky enemy for me.
It was not just fear of anillness, but also having to shut
down many aspects of my life.
Whatever your personal take ison how social activity should
have been handled during thepandemic, I chose to stay at
(03:06):
home, my children were invirtual school and I hosted Zoom
church from my office.
Don't get me wrong I believeZoom was and continues to be a
gift from God, but I fell intothe trap of thinking that I was
still my outgoing self,connecting with people and
having many meetings andconversations during the better
(03:28):
part of those two years trickedme.
My husband continued to workoutside of the home, so his
experience was different, but mychildren and I, we were in our
protective bubble.
We could do lots and lots ofepisodes about the effects of
the pandemic on mental healthand we will talk about it in
(03:49):
future episodes but I think weare just beginning to see the
effects of the pandemic onmental health.
I'm sure that most of you haveheard stories on TV or radio
about social and academicchallenges that children are
facing, but this is not just anissue for children or young
adults.
It affects every generation.
(04:10):
So, as we welcomed in 2022, myhusband and I decided that it
was time for our children toreturn to in-person school.
There were lots of bumps withthe re-entry back into in-person
life, but over time, thingsbegan to settle in.
For me, it seemed that aroundthe fall of 2022, someone turned
(04:32):
the switch of life on and toldeveryone to get up and make up
for all the lost time.
I felt like I was being thrownout into the world and told to
pick up exactly where I left offtwo years ago.
I felt like I hadn't been tothe gym in over two years which
is true and I was wildly out ofshape.
(04:52):
I constantly felt like I wastrying to catch my breath,
getting back into in-personliving, as much as I was ready
to go and wanted to embrace lifeand all that it has to offer.
I was also afraid to be in theoutside world, not necessarily
because I was afraid of catchingCOVID, but I had been isolated
(05:15):
physically and, more importantly, emotionally, for almost two
years and I didn't realize theemotional impact it had on me.
So I went in full-on, locked inand jumped back into life my
church, my kids, everything.
Instead of focusing on me, Ifelt empty.
(05:39):
Also during that time, mytherapist had been diagnosed
with a serious illness and hadto take a step back from her
practice.
So not only was I missing mytrusted friend and advisor to
talk with, but there was alsothe fear of the possibility of
someone else dying.
And then, in February of thisyear, a very special person in
(06:03):
my life tried to end her pain byphysically hurting herself.
I'll never forget the pain Ifelt when I found out what
happened.
I knew that she was strugglingemotionally with many issues and
that she had withdrawn fromsocial activities, but I never
suspected that she would attemptanything that could cause a
tragedy.
(06:23):
Despite God, her attempt wasunsuccessful, by the grace of
God, and a flicker of lightwhich was inside of her led her
to immediately ask for helpbecause she knew she was in
trouble, and I'm happy to sharethat.
She's working very hard atstrengthening her light, finding
her voice and developing herpower.
(06:48):
For me, I remember trying to bethere for her to sit and listen,
to laugh and cry together asshe moved through those initial
days, weeks and months.
All along.
I knew my light was flickeringand I was losing energy.
I was so consumed with tryingto exist that I had no energy,
(07:10):
creativity or passion to thrive.
When I was talking to someoneabout life in general, one day I
made the statement that my bestfriend was my Google Calendar,
because he kept me focused onthe tasks of my day or week.
After saying that, I rememberthinking uh-oh, houston, we have
(07:30):
a problem.
And then came the wave of fear.
What had happened to me?
I immediately reached out forJesus, but even though
intellectually I knew he waswith me I absolutely believed in
his promise to be with me tillthe end of the age I did not
feel his love.
It was all in the academic andintellectual space that I found
(07:56):
my walk with Jesus and I knewsomething was missing.
A few months later, god led meto join a group on Zoom, but
with people from all around theworld just a fascinating,
wonderful group of people and wewere focused on the practice
and study of mindfulness.
Some of you may know somethingabout this, others may not.
(08:18):
It's an episode unto itself.
For now, let's say thatmindfulness meditation is a
mental training practice thatteaches you to slow down racing
thoughts, let go of negativityand calm both body and mind.
What it did for me was help meto reconnect with the passionate
(08:38):
parts of me that I had lockedaway and substituted with daily
lists and an obsession of how tojust survive.
This didn't happen overnight.
I am still on that journey ofrediscovery and I'm so grateful
for God helping me to love lifeagain.
(08:59):
It was also during this timethat I wanted to go back into
the sacred texts and find outwhat I could use for myself and
share with others about God'slove, jesus' teachings and the
power of the Holy Spirit in thestorms of life and the
challenges of mental health.
I began to pray and discern andimagined reaching out to take
(09:21):
Jesus' hand so we could walktogether in this journey.
I asked Jesus to walk with me.
I began looking for scripturesabout peace.
For me, a renewed sense ofinner peace was what I was
looking for, peace that wouldhelp me release the anxiety and
depression that led me toemotionally isolate.
(09:44):
So in my search, god led me tothese pieces of scripture 2
Corinthians 13-11.
Finally, brothers, rejoice, Aimfor perfect harmony, encourage
one another, be of one mind,live in peace, and the God of
love and peace will be with you.
(10:05):
Ephesians 6-23.
Peace to the brothers and lovewith faith from God, our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4-9.
Whatever you have learned orreceived or heard or seen in me,
now put it into practice.
(10:25):
The God of peace will be withyou always.
Verse Thessalonians 5-23.
Now may the God of peacehimself sanctify you completely
and may your entire spirit, souland body be kept blameless at
the coming of our Lord JesusChrist.
And 2 Thessalonians 3-16.
(10:49):
Now may the Lord of peace givehimself your peace at all times
and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you.
Now may the Lord of peacehimself continually grant you
peace in every circumstance, wasPaul's prayer and blessing to
(11:10):
the Thessalonian believers.
As he prepared to draw hisletter to a close, he sent them
off saying May the Lord be withyou all.
That's what I was so hungry forTo not only know, but to feel
the Lord's presence with me.
(11:30):
It was the Prince of Peacehimself that promised to leave
his own perfect peace with hisconfused disciples.
Peace I leave with you.
They were the reassuring wordsthat Jesus spoke to them as the
shadow of the cross loomedcloser.
Jesus knew that we needed thatcomfort, that reassurance.
(11:52):
My peace I give to you, not thepeace that the world gives, but
the peace, lord, that canassure us to not be afraid.
Christ gave his disciples hisown precious promise of peace.
His peace, though, is not ofthis world, but it is the inner
(12:16):
peace that heals the whole inour heart.
Jesus promised to give us apeace to guard our hearts, to
bring rest, comfort andrefreshment.
Hope, hope, an inner peace thattranscends humanity's
comprehension.
Things of the world that werely on can make us feel good
(12:40):
for a while, but, as for me,when I focused on those things,
I seemed to fall back, after asmall period of happiness, into
the uncomfortable and isolated.
But when I could focus on thepeace of God, I began to know
(13:02):
and feel healing.
Look at John 14, 27.
Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give to you, not asthe world gives.
So let not your heart betroubled, nor let it be fearful.
The biblical concept of peacedoesn't focus on the absence of
trouble.
Biblical peace is unrelated tolife circumstances.
(13:25):
It transcends them, itsupersedes them.
It is the goodness of life thatis not touched by what happens
in the outside world.
You can be in the midst ofgreat trials, awesome storms
that seem to overwhelm you, andstill have the peace of Christ
(13:46):
in your heart.
The peace Jesus is speaking ofenables us to remain calm in the
most wildly fearfulcircumstances.
It enables them to hush a crystill a riot, rejoice in pain
and sing in the middle ofsuffering.
This peace is never created bycircumstances, but instead
(14:08):
affects and overrules them.
I think we need to hear thismessage of peace again and again
.
Somehow the passage of timetakes a subtle toll on our
spirits, because this happenslittle by little even to the
most dedicated people.
We do not always notice it.
That's exactly what happened tome.
(14:29):
Then one day, it suddenly getsso dark we wonder who turned out
the lights.
How do we, as Christians,advance God's light into the
world when we know darkness alltoo well?
How do we share the hope, thejoy, the peace of the good news
when all the news seems to beoverwhelming and sad?
(14:49):
If actions really do speaklouder than words and I believe
that they do then at ChristmasGod has virtually shouted out to
the world how much God cares.
God cares enough to enter theplace we live and bring light
into those dark spots of ourlives, spots we cannot seem to
(15:12):
light on our own.
We're entering the advent andChristmas season in the life of
the church.
One of the things that bringsme lots of joy is looking at
Christmas lights.
I like blinking ones, blue ones, lights all over the house and
sometimes just a few lights on asmall tree.
Christmas light is about an endto isolation and despair, even
(15:35):
in our best efforts where wecan't seem to fix it.
Christmas light is about hope.
When life is at its darkest,christmas light is about a
future.
If God is peace, then to knowGod is to rest and to refresh in
(15:55):
his peace.
The closer we draw to him, themore of his peace we can rely on
, and the closer we draw to God,we begin to have an expanded
knowledge of trust.
Trust means having to set ourhearts in a place where we focus
and believe in God whatever mayhappen.
(16:17):
A tall order, I know.
Sometimes we can't seem to evencome close.
But when we insist on being incontrol ourselves, we can savage
God's passion and desire to letus live in peace.
When we choose to worry ratherthan walk in faith, peace is not
(16:40):
ours.
Jesus often warned us aboutfear and worry, and here's a
passage from Matthew 6.34, takenfrom the message translation
Give your entire attention towhat God is doing right now and
don't get worked up about whatmay or may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you deal withwhatever hard things come up
(17:04):
when the time comes.
Living in peace can be comparedto the petals of a flower
unfolding in the morningsunlight.
The petals of peace in ourlives unfold as we learn more
about God.
We experience his continualgoodness.
We read more of his promises,like Psalm 100, for God is sheer
(17:26):
beauty, all generous in love.
We learn to bask in hisoverwhelming love for us, as it
says in Romans 8.31.32 from themessage.
If God didn't hesitate to puteverything on the line for us,
embracing our condition,exposing himself to the worst by
sending his own son.
(17:48):
Is there anything else hewouldn't gladly and freely do
for us?
And who would dare tangle withGod by messing with one of his
chosen?
Who would dare even point afinger?
The one who died for us, whowas raised to life for us, is in
the presence of God at thisvery moment, sticking up for us.
(18:11):
We are one of God's chosen andGod has got our back.
So how do we draw near enoughto experience his peace?
Jesus said Peace I leave withyou, my peace I give to you.
Do not let your hearts betroubled, neither let them not
(18:34):
be afraid.
The initial peace that comesfrom having our consciousness
cleared grows as we get to knowGod better.
2 Peter 1.2 says May God giveyou more and more grace and
peace to grow in your knowledgeof God and Jesus, our Lord.
That's what I needed, andthat's from the New Living
(18:55):
Translation To know God formyself, not as a priest for my
congregation, not as a witnessto others.
First and foremost, I needed toreconnect with God in my own
life, and when we develop alifestyle of making the Lord our
(19:17):
refuge, we begin to live in thepeace of God.
Psalm 91.1 holds thatinteresting secret to the peace
of God.
He that dwells in the place ofthe Most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty, Iwill say of the Lord.
He is my refuge, my fortress.
(19:37):
In Him I will trust.
That secret place in our heartsis where we go to meet God.
When we choose to live thereand hide away under His shadow,
staying in consistent communionwith Him, we can remain peaceful
even when circumstances may notbe, and when we learn to cry
(20:00):
out to Him in times of trouble,we find His peace really does
pass all human understanding.
Philippians 4-7.
Well, you may now be sayingthat's great, she's getting it
back together, but nothing canwork for me.
Believe me, I felt the same way.
(20:21):
The emptiness I experiencedcaused me to scream out to God
for help.
I didn't know what I wasexpecting to receive in the
moment, but I eventuallyrealized that what I received
was the gift of the power tograb on to Jesus' hand so we
could walk together.
(20:41):
This is not a sudden resolutionof pain, but it was the
beginning of a journey towardwholeness and peace, something I
never expected, but somethingvery powerful.
I am inviting you to walk withme on this journey, a journey to
(21:05):
know the healing, life-giving,life-restoring power of God
through His Son, jesus, and thepower of the Holy Spirit, and I
would like to walk with you.
I hope that you will join me inour future episodes, where we
will explore other Bible textsin depth.
We will talk about books,articles, self-care methods and
(21:28):
have conversations withprofessionals and others who are
walking on this journey.
One thing before I leave that Iwant to be sure that you know
is that if you are in need ofprofessional help something that
I treasure in my own journeyand you don't know what to do,
you can contact the NationalSuicide Prevention Lifeline,
(21:50):
accessible at 1-800-273-8255.
Again, that's 1-800-273-8255.
And also modeled after the 911system.
There is a three digit 988 codefor your phone's suicide and
(22:13):
crisis lifeline and it's a quicknumber, easy to remember and
will connect you with mentalhealth professionals.
If you would like to reach outto us, to send us a question or
a comment, please emailpodcastatwillyouwalkwithmecom.
That'spodcastatwillyouwalkwithmecom.
(22:37):
I want to thank my producers,andrew and Catherine, who not
only have put so much love andcare into this podcast, but
actually got me started byasking a simple question what's
on my heart and I want to thankall of you for listening and, I
hope, joining in this community.
(22:58):
I pray that each of you see thehand of Jesus extended,
reaching out to you, and I hopeyou know that you are a child of
God and are invited to grab onand have a blessed partner for
your journey forward.
Will you walk with me?
I will walk with you.
Lee 2 2.
Hello and welcome to the firstepisode of Will you Walk With Me
(00:33):
.
My name is Reverend Dr KathySklenar Studwell.
I'm an Episcopal priest inNorthern New Jersey and I have a
Doctor of Ministry degreefocusing on learning about the
art of inviting a scene in theGospel of John and First John.
I also have an undergraduatedegree in psychology, but would
consider my many years in my ownpersonal therapy as more
(00:56):
helpful in my own life, ministryand what I would like to use as
a foundation for thediscussions on this podcast.
My producers, andrew andCatherine, came to me with an
idea about doing a podcast totalk about the Bible and other
sacred texts and the coolministries we have at our church
, st Bartholomew's.
(01:17):
I think they might have seenthe perplexed look on my face
when they first approached meand after a period of silence,
andrew asked me well, kathy,what is on your heart?
Where did I think God wasleading me?
And I automatically knew theanswer.
(01:37):
I wanted to talk about howJesus walks with us in the
challenges of life.
More specifically, where isJesus when we are facing anxiety
, depression, other mentalhealth crisis?
The title of my podcast, willyou Walk With Me, came from my
(01:57):
personal experience of isolationand fear of a lonely prison of
my own making.
If I said isolation and fear topeople who know me, they would
look at me with a really strangelook and say something like you
, isolation.
I am an outgoing person wholoves to meet people.
I'm blessed with a greathusband, children, my dogs,
(02:21):
family, friends, a wonderfulcongregation spiritual director
and a trusted therapist who Ihave been with for many years.
Therapy has been a strong partof my self-care program, along
with yoga, meditation and a newstudy that I've been working on,
mindfulness.
We will talk about these greattools in future episodes.
(02:44):
But getting back to isolation,the pandemic was really, is
really a sneaky enemy for me.
It was not just fear of anillness, but also having to shut
down many aspects of my life.
Whatever your personal take ison how social activity should
have been handled during thepandemic, I chose to stay at
(03:06):
home, my children were invirtual school and I hosted Zoom
church from my office.
Don't get me wrong I believeZoom was and continues to be a
gift from God, but I fell intothe trap of thinking that I was
still my outgoing self,connecting with people and
having many meetings andconversations during the better
(03:28):
part of those two years trickedme.
My husband continued to workoutside of the home, so his
experience was different, but mychildren and I, we were in our
protective bubble.
We could do lots and lots ofepisodes about the effects of
the pandemic on mental healthand we will talk about it in
(03:49):
future episodes but I think weare just beginning to see the
effects of the pandemic onmental health.
I'm sure that most of you haveheard stories on TV or radio
about social and academicchallenges that children are
facing, but this is not just anissue for children or young
adults.
It affects every generation.
(04:10):
So, as we welcomed in 2022, myhusband and I decided that it
was time for our children toreturn to in-person school.
There were lots of bumps withthe re-entry back into in-person
life, but over time, thingsbegan to settle in.
For me, it seemed that aroundthe fall of 2022, someone turned
(04:32):
the switch of life on and toldeveryone to get up and make up
for all the lost time.
I felt like I was being thrownout into the world and told to
pick up exactly where I left offtwo years ago.
I felt like I hadn't been tothe gym in over two years which
is true and I was wildly out ofshape.
(04:52):
I constantly felt like I wastrying to catch my breath,
getting back into in-personliving, as much as I was ready
to go and wanted to embrace lifeand all that it has to offer.
I was also afraid to be in theoutside world, not necessarily
because I was afraid of catchingCOVID, but I had been isolated
(05:15):
physically and, more importantly, emotionally, for almost two
years and I didn't realize theemotional impact it had on me.
So I went in full-on, locked inand jumped back into life my
church, my kids, everything.
Instead of focusing on me, Ifelt empty.
(05:39):
Also during that time, mytherapist had been diagnosed
with a serious illness and hadto take a step back from her
practice.
So not only was I missing mytrusted friend and advisor to
talk with, but there was alsothe fear of the possibility of
someone else dying.
And then, in February of thisyear, a very special person in
(06:03):
my life tried to end her pain byphysically hurting herself.
I'll never forget the pain Ifelt when I found out what
happened.
I knew that she was strugglingemotionally with many issues and
that she had withdrawn fromsocial activities, but I never
suspected that she would attemptanything that could cause a
tragedy.
(06:23):
Despite God, her attempt wasunsuccessful, by the grace of
God, and a flicker of lightwhich was inside of her led her
to immediately ask for helpbecause she knew she was in
trouble, and I'm happy to sharethat.
She's working very hard atstrengthening her light, finding
her voice and developing herpower.
(06:48):
For me, I remember trying to bethere for her to sit and listen,
to laugh and cry together asshe moved through those initial
days, weeks and months.
All along.
I knew my light was flickeringand I was losing energy.
I was so consumed with tryingto exist that I had no energy,
(07:10):
creativity or passion to thrive.
When I was talking to someoneabout life in general, one day I
made the statement that my bestfriend was my Google Calendar,
because he kept me focused onthe tasks of my day or week.
After saying that, I rememberthinking uh-oh, houston, we have
(07:30):
a problem.
And then came the wave of fear.
What had happened to me?
I immediately reached out forJesus, but even though
intellectually I knew he waswith me I absolutely believed in
his promise to be with me tillthe end of the age I did not
feel his love.
It was all in the academic andintellectual space that I found
(07:56):
my walk with Jesus and I knewsomething was missing.
A few months later, god led meto join a group on Zoom, but
with people from all around theworld just a fascinating,
wonderful group of people and wewere focused on the practice
and study of mindfulness.
Some of you may know somethingabout this, others may not.
(08:18):
It's an episode unto itself.
For now, let's say thatmindfulness meditation is a
mental training practice thatteaches you to slow down racing
thoughts, let go of negativityand calm both body and mind.
What it did for me was help meto reconnect with the passionate
(08:38):
parts of me that I had lockedaway and substituted with daily
lists and an obsession of how tojust survive.
This didn't happen overnight.
I am still on that journey ofrediscovery and I'm so grateful
for God helping me to love lifeagain.
(08:59):
It was also during this timethat I wanted to go back into
the sacred texts and find outwhat I could use for myself and
share with others about God'slove, jesus' teachings and the
power of the Holy Spirit in thestorms of life and the
challenges of mental health.
I began to pray and discern andimagined reaching out to take
(09:21):
Jesus' hand so we could walktogether in this journey.
I asked Jesus to walk with me.
I began looking for scripturesabout peace.
For me, a renewed sense ofinner peace was what I was
looking for, peace that wouldhelp me release the anxiety and
depression that led me toemotionally isolate.
(09:44):
So in my search, god led me tothese pieces of scripture 2
Corinthians 13-11.
Finally, brothers, rejoice, Aimfor perfect harmony, encourage
one another, be of one mind,live in peace, and the God of
love and peace will be with you.
(10:05):
Ephesians 6-23.
Peace to the brothers and lovewith faith from God, our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4-9.
Whatever you have learned orreceived or heard or seen in me,
now put it into practice.
(10:25):
The God of peace will be withyou always.
Verse Thessalonians 5-23.
Now may the God of peacehimself sanctify you completely
and may your entire spirit, souland body be kept blameless at
the coming of our Lord JesusChrist.
And 2 Thessalonians 3-16.
(10:49):
Now may the Lord of peace givehimself your peace at all times
and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you.
Now may the Lord of peacehimself continually grant you
peace in every circumstance, wasPaul's prayer and blessing to
(11:10):
the Thessalonian believers.
As he prepared to draw hisletter to a close, he sent them
off saying May the Lord be withyou all.
That's what I was so hungry forTo not only know, but to feel
the Lord's presence with me.
(11:30):
It was the Prince of Peacehimself that promised to leave
his own perfect peace with hisconfused disciples.
Peace I leave with you.
They were the reassuring wordsthat Jesus spoke to them as the
shadow of the cross loomedcloser.
Jesus knew that we needed thatcomfort, that reassurance.
(11:52):
My peace I give to you, not thepeace that the world gives, but
the peace, lord, that canassure us to not be afraid.
Christ gave his disciples hisown precious promise of peace.
His peace, though, is not ofthis world, but it is the inner
(12:16):
peace that heals the whole inour heart.
Jesus promised to give us apeace to guard our hearts, to
bring rest, comfort andrefreshment.
Hope, hope, an inner peace thattranscends humanity's
comprehension.
Things of the world that werely on can make us feel good
(12:40):
for a while, but, as for me,when I focused on those things,
I seemed to fall back, after asmall period of happiness, into
the uncomfortable and isolated.
But when I could focus on thepeace of God, I began to know
(13:02):
and feel healing.
Look at John 14, 27.
Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give to you, not asthe world gives.
So let not your heart betroubled, nor let it be fearful.
The biblical concept of peacedoesn't focus on the absence of
trouble.
Biblical peace is unrelated tolife circumstances.
(13:25):
It transcends them, itsupersedes them.
It is the goodness of life thatis not touched by what happens
in the outside world.
You can be in the midst ofgreat trials, awesome storms
that seem to overwhelm you, andstill have the peace of Christ
(13:46):
in your heart.
The peace Jesus is speaking ofenables us to remain calm in the
most wildly fearfulcircumstances.
It enables them to hush a crystill a riot, rejoice in pain
and sing in the middle ofsuffering.
This peace is never created bycircumstances, but instead
(14:08):
affects and overrules them.
I think we need to hear thismessage of peace again and again
.
Somehow the passage of timetakes a subtle toll on our
spirits, because this happenslittle by little even to the
most dedicated people.
We do not always notice it.
That's exactly what happened tome.
(14:29):
Then one day, it suddenly getsso dark we wonder who turned out
the lights.
How do we, as Christians,advance God's light into the
world when we know darkness alltoo well?
How do we share the hope, thejoy, the peace of the good news
when all the news seems to beoverwhelming and sad?
(14:49):
If actions really do speaklouder than words and I believe
that they do then at ChristmasGod has virtually shouted out to
the world how much God cares.
God cares enough to enter theplace we live and bring light
into those dark spots of ourlives, spots we cannot seem to
(15:12):
light on our own.
We're entering the advent andChristmas season in the life of
the church.
One of the things that bringsme lots of joy is looking at
Christmas lights.
I like blinking ones, blue ones, lights all over the house and
sometimes just a few lights on asmall tree.
Christmas light is about an endto isolation and despair, even
(15:35):
in our best efforts where wecan't seem to fix it.
Christmas light is about hope.
When life is at its darkest,christmas light is about a
future.
If God is peace, then to knowGod is to rest and to refresh in
(15:55):
his peace.
The closer we draw to him, themore of his peace we can rely on
, and the closer we draw to God,we begin to have an expanded
knowledge of trust.
Trust means having to set ourhearts in a place where we focus
and believe in God whatever mayhappen.
(16:17):
A tall order, I know.
Sometimes we can't seem to evencome close.
But when we insist on being incontrol ourselves, we can savage
God's passion and desire to letus live in peace.
When we choose to worry ratherthan walk in faith, peace is not
(16:40):
ours.
Jesus often warned us aboutfear and worry, and here's a
passage from Matthew 6.34, takenfrom the message translation
Give your entire attention towhat God is doing right now and
don't get worked up about whatmay or may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you deal withwhatever hard things come up
(17:04):
when the time comes.
Living in peace can be comparedto the petals of a flower
unfolding in the morningsunlight.
The petals of peace in ourlives unfold as we learn more
about God.
We experience his continualgoodness.
We read more of his promises,like Psalm 100, for God is sheer
(17:26):
beauty, all generous in love.
We learn to bask in hisoverwhelming love for us, as it
says in Romans 8.31.32 from themessage.
If God didn't hesitate to puteverything on the line for us,
embracing our condition,exposing himself to the worst by
sending his own son.
(17:48):
Is there anything else hewouldn't gladly and freely do
for us?
And who would dare tangle withGod by messing with one of his
chosen?
Who would dare even point afinger?
The one who died for us, whowas raised to life for us, is in
the presence of God at thisvery moment, sticking up for us.
(18:11):
We are one of God's chosen andGod has got our back.
So how do we draw near enoughto experience his peace?
Jesus said Peace I leave withyou, my peace I give to you.
Do not let your hearts betroubled, neither let them not
(18:34):
be afraid.
The initial peace that comesfrom having our consciousness
cleared grows as we get to knowGod better.
2 Peter 1.2 says May God giveyou more and more grace and
peace to grow in your knowledgeof God and Jesus, our Lord.
That's what I needed, andthat's from the New Living
(18:55):
Translation To know God formyself, not as a priest for my
congregation, not as a witnessto others.
First and foremost, I needed toreconnect with God in my own
life, and when we develop alifestyle of making the Lord our
(19:17):
refuge, we begin to live in thepeace of God.
Psalm 91.1 holds thatinteresting secret to the peace
of God.
He that dwells in the place ofthe Most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty, Iwill say of the Lord.
He is my refuge, my fortress.
(19:37):
In Him I will trust.
That secret place in our heartsis where we go to meet God.
When we choose to live thereand hide away under His shadow,
staying in consistent communionwith Him, we can remain peaceful
even when circumstances may notbe, and when we learn to cry
(20:00):
out to Him in times of trouble,we find His peace really does
pass all human understanding.
Philippians 4-7.
Well, you may now be sayingthat's great, she's getting it
back together, but nothing canwork for me.
Believe me, I felt the same way.
(20:21):
The emptiness I experiencedcaused me to scream out to God
for help.
I didn't know what I wasexpecting to receive in the
moment, but I eventuallyrealized that what I received
was the gift of the power tograb on to Jesus' hand so we
could walk together.
(20:41):
This is not a sudden resolutionof pain, but it was the
beginning of a journey towardwholeness and peace, something I
never expected, but somethingvery powerful.
I am inviting you to walk withme on this journey, a journey to
(21:05):
know the healing, life-giving,life-restoring power of God
through His Son, jesus, and thepower of the Holy Spirit, and I
would like to walk with you.
I hope that you will join me inour future episodes, where we
will explore other Bible textsin depth.
We will talk about books,articles, self-care methods and
(21:28):
have conversations withprofessionals and others who are
walking on this journey.
One thing before I leave that Iwant to be sure that you know
is that if you are in need ofprofessional help something that
I treasure in my own journeyand you don't know what to do,
you can contact the NationalSuicide Prevention Lifeline,
(21:50):
accessible at 1-800-273-8255.
Again, that's 1-800-273-8255.
And also modeled after the 911system.
There is a three digit 988 codefor your phone's suicide and
(22:13):
crisis lifeline and it's a quicknumber, easy to remember and
will connect you with mentalhealth professionals.
If you would like to reach outto us, to send us a question or
a comment, please emailpodcastatwillyouwalkwithmecom.
That'spodcastatwillyouwalkwithmecom.
(22:37):
I want to thank my producers,andrew and Catherine, who not
only have put so much love andcare into this podcast, but
actually got me started byasking a simple question what's
on my heart and I want to thankall of you for listening and, I
hope, joining in this community.
(22:58):
I pray that each of you see thehand of Jesus extended,
reaching out to you, and I hopeyou know that you are a child of
God and are invited to grab onand have a blessed partner for
your journey forward.
Will you walk with me?
I will walk with you.
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