For much of our country and even the watching world, Tuesday, November 3, 2020 feels large and filled with impending doom. The anxiety it is causing within the hearts and mind of individuals is unhealthy and alarming. The jockeying for political positions every four years becomes increasingly hostile and polarizing. But, for Christians, God calls us to a better way. Engagement as a good citizen does not mean disengagement from faith and the call to Christlikeness in all areas of life. The command to love God above all and love our neighbors above ourselves doesn't get set aside for a call to save our country. Fear is cast out by God's power and love in us. And trust is even more important when we are unsure of our future. That is when God's power and sovereignty are evidenced in a believer's life.

I would like to encourage those in Christ to consider the level of peace being experienced in their lives. Is it God's peace that passes understanding? Are we able to walk in the midst of uncertainty with a determination to believe God? To believe His word is true and the promises belong to us? If you can't lay your head on the pillow tonight and sleep in peace, I invite you to consider these 5 requirements for peace.

5 Requirements for Peace in Decision

1. Gratitude

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Romans 5:2–5 (ESV)

Did you see the word "then" in this passage? Pray instead of worry. Tell God what you need. Thank Him for ALL He has done. And THEN, you will experience His unsurpassable peace. His peace will guard your hearts and minds.

Do you want to have a mind at peace? Pray. Talk to God. Be thankful and express it to Him. And it will be yours. If you have to keep wrestling to be thankful, wrestle. Every time a negative, unthankful, bitter, fearful thought or attitude pops up, squelch it through prayer and thanksgiving. His peace is worth seeking.

2. Hope

If we want hope, we must look back in gratitude to look forward with hope. Remembering is a big theme in Scripture, because God knows we need to be reminded of His faithfulness and provision daily. Acknowledging what God has done in the past renews our present minds to see with eyes for the future.

"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:2–5 (ESV)

If you want peace before and after the election, live as a person of hope. This comes from rejoicing in suffering which leads to endurance. Endurance build our character - transforms us to be like Christ - and having the mind of Christ leads to hope. People who hope will have peace in their lives no matter who sits in the Oval office the next four years.

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Romans 15:4 ESV

Want hope? Read your Bible daily.

3. Abiding

Abiding means remaining in the truths and presence of God. A true follower of Christ is always in the presence of God, but as Colossians 3:1-3 explains, we have to "keep seeking the things above." Our flesh derails us at times. Seeking the things above means meditating on His truths, walking with Him through every season, allowing Him to renew our minds and transform us from one glory to another as we grow in His likeness, and to rest in our position as heirs of His kingdom. Peace comes from humbly pursuing to grow in the knowledge of Christ.

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

I don't know about you, but I definitely want to be filled up with the fullness of God. Abiding in Christ, our source of peace, fills us with His peace.

4. Knowledge of the Promises of God

Peace will not come to those who forget the promises of God. Peace is guaranteed to those who keep their minds on Him, remove sin from their lives, and seek to Honor Christ. This unshakable peace can be ours if we believe that He gave it to us. Read His promises and live as if we believe them, an peace will reign in our hearts and minds.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27.

Is 54:10 “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.”

Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

5. Remembering who we are and who God is

No matter what state the world is in, individually as saints and heirs of God and collectively as His indestructible Church, we can have peace because we have a relationship with the prince of peace. We only have to remember who He is and who we are in Him to allow His peace to rule our hearts and minds.

"For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Pursuing Peace

Peace is possible through our relationship with Christ. We have peace with God through salvation, but to appropriate (experience) it in our daily lives, we have to pursue it. We have to seek peace with people for the purpose of building others up. We have to walk in a manner worthy of our calling as Christians. Maintaining the unity of Spirit within the Church is vitally important and requires humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another's faults in love.

Romans 14:19 "So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding."

Ephesians 4:1-3 "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Will you be able to lay your head on your pillow and rest in the fact that God's peace is abiding in you? Will you pursue it through gratitude, looking forward in hope, spending time in the Bible, believing all His promises to you, and remembering who He is and what that says about you? I would love to hear how you practice any of these 5 requirements for peace. Drop me a comment! :)