“The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” This episode talks about how so many people are suffering with anxiety, depression and physical illnesses. It talks about how the Lord sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us everything. It also talks about a strategy for when our thoughts are starting to get away from us. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Peace I Leave You; My Peace I Give To You
John 14:26-27 “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
I think this verse stood out to me because I know a lot of people that are struggling to find peace right now. Either they are struggling with anxiety or depression, or a physical illness. There is never a good time to be physically ill, however, the holidays is the worst time. On a good day, most of us tend not to be super good patients. The doctors tell you to rest and you say you will. But then the dog needs to go out, your kids need to eat and they want you to cook it, or the laundry won’t get done if you don’t do it. There are a hundred things going through our minds and we just don’t seem to rest. Now, maybe you are the exception to this rule. Maybe you do a great job resting when you are ill and you don’t push yourself. If that is you then I am so proud of you. It is not easy and yet it is really the only way to get better sometimes.
For those of us that push through, refuse to rest, or say we will rest after we get it all done, which never happens, I would like to suggest that you try something new, and just rest. If you are feeling sick take time for yourself and rest. I bet you will get better faster and you will be up and at it again before you know it. I promise you that if you rest for a day or two, or even a week, your world will not end. Yes, maybe your laundry won’t get done, life will still go on. Your kids will survive if they had to wear the same thing more than one day in a row because you were too sick to do laundry. Your kids will survive if they have to eat cereal for three meals a day for a week because you can’t get out of bed. I promise they will not be scarred for life because of this.
Is this what we would want for them everyday, no, of course not. However, if you are sick and you need to rest, then you can rest. I am giving you permission because sometimes we need someone else to tell us that it is ok. We need someone to tell us we are not a bad mom and dad if we take a day or two or however, much we need to rest and get better. Covid seems to be running rampant right now, again. I know several people who are sick right now, right before Christmas. I understand that is awful timing. I understand that you have so much to do to get ready for the holidays. I also understand that your family wants you to recover from this more than anything you could possibly give to them or do for them for Christmas.
Yes, you may not be able to do all of your shopping by Dec. 25th. Yes, your presents may not all get wrapped on time. You may have to give up some traditions that you normally do, such as Christmas cards, or gifts to the kids teachers, maybe even going all out with decorations. It is ok, the world will not end. Your loved ones will understand. If you need to push Christmas back a week, then do that. The most important thing is that you take care of yourself so that you can be around for many Christmas’s to come. I am sure your family would prefer that you take it easy, rest, don’t push yourself, and then get better sooner. You are more important than any gift, cookie swap, or holiday party that you may have to miss. Nothing is more important than your heath.
For those of you that are struggling to find peace with your mental health this season, first I just want to say that you are not alone. I know so many people struggling with anxiety and depression right now. The holidays are great whenever thing is going great. However, when you are struggling, they can be really difficult, especially if you have lost people in the past. It doesn’t even have to be that you just lost someone. It doesn’t matter when you lost a loved one, the holidays can bring that pain back. We remember our lost ones more during the holidays because we have all the memories of the past holidays we got to spend with them, we miss them because we don’t get to spend this holiday with them. It can be really sad to think about all they are missing out on. It can be really hard for so many, especially if they are not surrounded by family that are still here. One thing to remember, and hopefully it can bring someone comfort, is to remember that although we no longer see them, they are still with us. They aren’t missing out on the festivities, they are there watching us from Heaven and enjoying being a part of it. It is sad for us because we are here on earth without them, but I honestly don’t believe it is sad for the. They get to be with our heavenly Father and they get to be with us as we celebrate. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I started with first saying that you are not alone because sometimes it can feel that way. Sometimes it can feel like everyone else is happy and they are loving life and we can’t understand why we aren’t. It is important that you know this is not the case. Even people that look super happy on social media, or in the drop off line at school are struggling. They are just hiding it, the same way you are when you go out around other people. Knowing we are not alone and that what we are feeling is normal can really help take the pressure off what we are going through. However, it doesn’t change what we are going through, or what we are feeling. That is what you are probably looking for. How do I feel better? How do I stop the anxious feelings and the depression? How do I get this peace that God is talking about?
This is where this verse come in. “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” Jesus said before He was crucified that He was going to leave us with peace. He said his peace will be different than the peace the world will give us. What is the peace that the world gives us? The world tells us to rely on ourselves. If you want to lose weight, just take this pill or buy that food. If you want to be financially set for the future invest in this thing or buy that stock. Whatever it is you are looking for, you can find something the world is selling to try to give you more peace about it. There are books about every single topic from parenting to the most obscure things. The world would like us to rely on it to solve our problems.
I am not saying you shouldn’t try to lose weight if that is a concern of yours and I am not saying it is bad to invest. It is good to take care of your health and your financial future. However, those things in itself won’t give you peace of mind and they will never give you a peace like God can give you. You can invest in your future, but if you don’t also have trust in God that things will work out, then you will invest and invest and you will never feel like you have invested enough. It is good to take care of your body and try to keep in healthy, but if you are not trusting in God to help keep you healthy then you will never feel like you are doing enough.
Jesus said that after he died, His Father would send down the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, and He would teach us everything, and would remind us of all that Jesus told us. The Holy Spirit is our key to happiness and to peace. If you are feeling super anxious or depressed pray for the Holy Spirit to come and give you that peace. The Holy Spirit can teach you to have peace and I also believe He can give you peace as a gift in the moments that you need it. When you are feeling your thoughts spiral downward there are two prayers that are short enough to remember even if you can’t really think and can be enormously powerful. First is “Come Holy Spirit Come,” and the second one is “Jesus, I trust in You.” You can repeat one of these over and over again, “Come Holy Spirit Come, Come Holy Spirit Come, Come Holy Spirit Come” or “Jesus, I trust in You, Jesus, I trust in You, Jesus, I trust in You” or you can alternate “Come Holy Spirit Come, Jesus I trust in You,Come Holy Spirit Come, Jesus I trust in You.”
I don’t know what is best for you in your circumstance. Whatever works best for you is what is best, there is not right thing to say. Our Father in heaven gave us the Holy Spirit to bring us peace and to teach us. He knew we would need the Holy Spirit to make it through this crazy world. If you are suffering with anxiety or depression right now I want you to know that I am praying for you. I know it is not easy. God will help you with this and this will not last forever. It probably seems like it will, but I promise you it won’t. That is just a lie the enemy is telling you, don’t believe it! Your Father in heaven knows you are struggling and He is doing an amazing work in your and will deliver you from this in His perfect timing. Keep going, keep calling on the power of the Holy Spirit, and the power of Jesus’ name. Don’t give up, there are so many people that love you!
Dear Heavenly Father I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Father, I ask for a special blessing for those that are suffering mentally or physically during this holiday season. Lord I ask for you to give them an overwhelming sense that they are loved and an overwhelming sense of peace that all will be ok eventually. Lord, I ask that you cure them all of their struggles, but even if it isn’t your perfect timing for that I pray that right after they hear this episode you fill them with love and peace, even if it is just for a moment. Give them that grace so that they have the strength to go on. Even if someone is not listening to this episode Lord, I ask that you give all those that are struggling a moment of pure love and peace. Lord, you are so amazing. I can’t believe how much you love us and help us despite our continued mess ups. We want to strive to be more like you Lord, and we know that we can’t do anything without your help. We are helpless without you. We love you Lord and we ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I know today is a little bit longer, but I really felt like the Holy Spirit wanted to speak to all those suffering right now. If you are someone who is suffering I would love if you would be on the lookout for that overwhelming feeling of peace and love today. I know God will deliver as He always does and I don’t want you to miss it. I love all of you that are listening and I am praying for all of you. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow, have a blessed day!