By Zethu Zwane
I was recently asked if I’m grateful about certain things in my life because I seem to be going through a lot of bad things. I was reminded to be grateful, and at that moment I thought my peace was a reflection of my gratitude. Still being recently asked this question; am I grateful, I went onto Google to search whether Christians should always be joyful. What I’ve found, I’ll reflect here today. This blog post is also my heartfelt response, so take it like me chatting to you about what’s deepest in my heart.
Right now I don’t know if I’m joyful, but I definitely know I’m filled with peace. I’m someone let’s say who doesn’t really know what pure happiness or joy is, but I know what is peace. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety, and many people have shunned me when I went into isolation mode. To contrast myself, I have some friends who are always joyful. They’re lives are an abundance of joy, and they found God in joy.
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This is the complete opposite for me. In countless seasons God has taught me never to diminish your light even when you’re bullied. I spoke about this in my 10 Life lessons from working in hostile environments. I was isolated and bullied for my awards and honours; namely my US degree and private school accent.
Even in the face of hatred, God will restore what your community has broken
It’s funny that societies want communities to grow and prosper, so they send their children abroad. Then when those children come back they’re shunned for the growth and expertise they collected abroad. Or when you’re hired, your boss’s jealousy governs how you’re treated.
As a result, you’re hired for your intelligence, but diminished due to harsh workplaces. This is where I found God; in abandonment and rejection. And it’s been God’s primary move to restore what people broke.
God’s restoration has taught me how to love and keep doing good to those who bully, reject or trample you. It took a long time to get here where I’m peaceful even among bullies. Yes there’s moments that shock me because I didn’t anticipate the rejection, but I’m mostly peaceful.
Then I’ve also struggled with depression and anxiety, but God has given me overflowing peace. This is because God finally freed me from the shackles of depression. I had to include a 3 day fast within my 21 day fast to witness the untangling of strongholds.
Should Christians always be happy and Peaceful?
Today is a different question. Should you always be happy and peaceful? To answer people who are always reminding you to be joyful, I believe this is unrealistic. What I believe these conversations are searching for is me to be beaming with joy, yet I’ve come out of feeling defeated and shattered. I needed God’s peace more because of the hardships I’ve recently faced.
Your dissatisfaction is a reminder you need God. It’s an alarm reminding you to spend time with God. I believe people who haven’t fully submitted their lives to God don’t understand this part. Make no mistake, I’m not judging them. I can’t judge them because I was also them. You need to go through a waiting season to fully learn how to rely and submit your life to God. That’s why whenever someone says be grateful when I was defeated by theft and malicious acts, I need to remember they are in a different passage to me.
What’s more, they have not experienced a waiting season, theft or malicious attacks. Maybe they have, but they still need to learn how to rely on God wholefully. Some people turn to false teachings during these hardships. Others become hardened, and others persevere. The time you wholefully submit to God will differ from others, so be okay with different emotions.
Have patience when people don’t understand what God’s doing in your life
However, never test God, or speak against God saying something like God is evil. The realities of your life demonstrates this earth is imperfect and you will experience victories and losses. Nonetheless whenever someone says be joyful, but you’re facing hardships, remember this. Be patient with them because you’re in different seasons.
Since you’re in different seasons, they may not know why peace is more important than joy. They may not know about a season of Job where everything is taken. As a result please bear with them in patience since they’ve forgotten that life is up and down. This bumpy road called life will differ emotionally, spiritually and physically.
God’s peace is what’s carrying me while the world is chaotic and sometimes doesn’t make sense. This is life; it will have its ups and downs, and I believe God’s peace is more important than enforcing joy. I believe it’s unrealistic to be joyful ALL your life. Instead I found that you’ll have some seasons with more peace than joy. That’s why this season I believe I have more peace than I have joy.
While you wait, God will show you even bigger needs
And with good reason. I am not satisfied with many things in my life. The biggest of these issues is that too many people around me are following false teachings, but want to blame God for bad environments, situations and wars. What on earth is this? It makes it hard to pray as a community, if you’re going to go buy pest sprays and sweets and call this a prayer.
There’s too many people believing they need to buy $2,500 prayers, and I’m not okay with this egregious reality. Before I rant about false teachings, let me explain how this became an issue for me. I’m in a waiting season, and God has shown me many things during this season that have shown me God as Jehovah Jireh and God as Abba Father. He’s also been there whenever I need resources to continue writing.
For example, 2 days before my resource runs out God sends someone to provide for me. In those moments of lack, I burst out laughing because I was reminded of everything God had said before. Previously, I was so desperate to get out of this waiting season, so I did a fast 2 weeks after finishing another 1. During the first fast, God said just stay home and write. During the second God reminded me He’s the Potter and I’m the clay.
Disobeying God is one of the many lessons why seeking peace is better than joy
Its possible the joys you want are idols taking you away from God. That’s why I actually believe that second fast I was being reprimanded. As His child, how dare I disobey and test Him about what He’d said before. God does really utter suggestions, yet it’s unfortunate I treated His commands like one. Unfortunately we’ll all do this, so it’s important to know when you’re wrong.
It also took me another 2 months to accept and continue blogging. I was frustrated by the lacking my life. I was also comparing today with my past life. However the bible reminds us not to hold onto your earthly possessions.
Plus life has its ups and downs meaning you’ll go through seasons of lack and seasons of abundance. What’s important is you should love and accept God no matter what you’re facing. Someone would say I lengthened my season by my wining, and slacking off and I agree. Yet this too is part of the season.
Learning to let go of earthly joys has taught me about more finding Godly peace
I’m grateful that I went through this process, so I can learn to accept God’s precepts faster. When God moulds you, it’s a chance to get rid of any bad qualities or traits. This is the first step to establishing peace because you’re living closer to what God has set before you.
I believe this is growth and learning to trust God when your foundation feels vulnerable. According to my human limitations, my life was vulnerable, but the more I started focusing on God’s peace, the more I started to see God’s ways are not my ways. Plus the joys I wanted were former idols because I relied on them more than God. So this season for me is about reinforcing my reliance on God’s peace over earth’s joys.
This has been a breakthrough change for me. This is an emotional breakthrough because my trust in His words, I regained peace. I also started reading and praying over any Bible verse on peace, so that I can magnify God’s peace. Those first following months, I did a lot of bible studies on God’s peace, so I can find how to live accordingly. I was tired of my feelings of lack, and with good reason. Sometimes your limited view will not carry you through this season. You need God’s peace.
Letting go of earthly possessions and security teaches you about God’s peace
Remember God’s peace is above all your understanding, and it will surpass all your situations. The best thing about relying on God’s peace is I’ve seen God provide for me to continue writing just as my resources were about to deplete. If you want to count this as gratitude, then I’m more grateful about God’s timing on this matter. God has given me resources to continue writing while I wait on Him.
Many times in life you’ll be called to wait. Not only this, but God will show you where your prayers should go. I believe this is where I am today. I am confident God has answered my prayers, and is the reason why He has redirected my attention to see more pressing issues. God showed me that He answered my prayers was kind of funny. I’ll start with the more recent ones.
There was a week when I was fasting and praying and submitting this attitude to God. For example if I submitted my bitterness, the next morning it was gone. Then I submitted impatience and then the next morning it was gone. It was like God was doing a medical surgery, cutting every yoke of bitterness or impatience away. I had to pause the next morning because I was reminded God answers prayers. Like Jesus said; Thank you that you have heard me.
It’s okay if you’re in a season where you’re harnessing how to maintain God’s peace
Jesus used the past tense to thank God. At that moment, I started asking God to teach me how to pray and to change my heart’s posture. This is when God pointed me to people following false teachings, and my focus has been there since. Consequently when you speak to me now, I have a lot of peace, but I’m unsatisfied by what I’m seeing concerning false teachings. I also believe false teachings are forgetting that God can reprimand and inflict you with a wound.
Yet again my peace comes from the fact God always wins. The moment you enter into prayer concerning anything, know God has already won. My peace is strongest there because my God never fails. Then another reason why I’ve learned to rely on God’s peace is due to recent thefts, adversity and hardships.
I’ve also learned to gain more peace following a slander campaign and theft. People said my writing is a curse and as a result I stole it maliciously. They justified their malicious acts by saying God’s provision is a curse. Yet when I turned to God for help, He started talking about Genesis 2:8-9 and Nineveh. Not all success is good success. Then don’t turn your talents and blessings into an idol. The theft helped get rid of thos idol.
Repeatedly seeking God’s peace will change your character to have a lasting reliance on Yahweh
This is why I had to return to God’s peace because I had none. In this season, joy has been hard to find, but I’m certain I’m overflowing with peace. God has provided for me every moment when I needed to continue writing. No matter where I needed to go, God provided for me. Since the beginning, He’s been Jehovah Jireh. This is why I can say I have peace.
When you can’t see a way out of your problems, it’s important to turn to the things that will give you peace. God is this ONLY source. And I’m also in the season, so I’ll only get to know in the end or years later why God froze me in time to sit and write. That’s what this is; when God hasn’t answered your exact or pressing prayers, but is moving in other areas. As a result it’s important for me to highlight these moments, so I can restore my peace.
Anchoring yourself in Christ Jesus when you’re going through hardships is important. Your hardships may be pressing like mine, but never underestimate what God’s doing. Yes He’s been silent on these pressing areas, but He’s answered the areas you overlook. I believe in such a season it’s far more important to anchor down and magnify God’s peace.
Harnessing God’s peace taught me to magnify His power over my problems
I learned to magnify God’s peace after doing a Bible study. This Bible study seriously convicted me because the author asked you to pray for forgiveness for not magnifying God’s power over your problems. I was shocked and sat there for 2 minutes before sheepishly uttering those words. Then I sat there staring at the morning devotional for another 15 minutes. It’s nice when morning devotionals say “Ask God for the former rain and the present,” pretty cool right?
We love it when morning devotional sermons are pretty sermons aboutGod doing miracles, signs and wonders. If you struggle with wanting to a grandiose prayer, you’re going to struggle when God the Afflictor enters your life. I don’t think I prayed accepting to be afflicted by God, but I’ve learned to find peace in affliction. I’ve been and still learning how to endure. God has every right to afflict you because He’s doing something within you spiritually and emotionally. He’s making you more Christ-like.
Again the struggle with this moment is when in Romans it says, God predestined you, and He called you and will justify you. In those moments it’s easy to use this verse in prayer thanking God that He’ll deliver you from this passage. However, many of us will overlook that in that same Romans verse, God will make you like Christ. Don’t forget Christ was spat on, rejected, humiliates, slandered, and someone stole from Him.
Learning about God’s peace taught me to thank God when I face hardships
This is why your hardships have purpose and your endurance has purpose. It’s also why I count my peace as a type of joy. Or it has more importance than joy because this peace has given me rest. When I look to God for peace my anxiety over my pressing and human things don’t matter.
Yet when I magnify my human problems, I quickly spiral into a dystopia kind of feeling. Honestly I’d much rather go into God’s presence than trying to figure things out on my own.
A word of caution; this process will take time. Be patient with yourself because this is the first of many firsts. That’s why I want to contest when people ask me to be joyful. It’s so unrealistic to believe your entire life will be both peaceful and joyful.
You’ll have one season with joy and no peace. Then you’ll have 1 season with no peace, but filled with joy. Conversely, I also feel that my relying on God, His peace has been my joy.
Again have patience with those around you because you’ll be in different seasons
And it’s okay if people don’t understand what it means. Many people don’t understand when I say I’m thankful for God the . They find it weird, depressing and negative thinking. Yet God brings purpose in your suffering.
For me suffering has removed this idea that I need to accomplish all things with my own strength. It removed a reliance on men and seeking to please people. It’s brought many spiritual victories, so I’m grateful for this season.
Then it’s also normal to wake up feeling out of place and anxious, but don’t magnify those feelings. Do your best to turn to the word of God to find comfort. This is why I’ve needed His peace. During this season of lack, it makes no sense to start planning if those same plans will lead to anxiety. Put away your plans and just sir with God. Take each day as it comes.
Why I relinquish my earthly calendar for God’s timing
What’s also helped me during the day is that I’ve also stopped planning. I write according to what I receive from my morning Bible study. That bible marketing content calendar I created has been put on pause.
Since God has put my life on pause, it’s best to follow in His steps because that’s where you’ll find peace. Instead if you force matters by over committing yourself or finding busy things to do, you’ll lose those small provisions .
There’s many seasons when God’s signs are small and look insignificant. That’s because you’re focused on larger scale outcomes as opposed to the finer details. The finer details matter.
For me the malicious attacks and theft reminded me that earthly things will bring you trouble. Yes I will still use my talents to gain some earthly things, but they must not become my sole purpose of living.
Suffering the loss from theft taught me that I can’t have my talents as the final goal. And you see this many times when God gives you much before taking it away. I’ve always said that sometimes your comforts in employment reduce how much you rely on God. Your reliance on your boss to give you that promotion removed your need for God. This is why a lack is good.
Perseverance is the only way your reliance on God will become lasting
This is why adversity and hardships are good. They’re a shocking reminder that earthly things are limited and costly to maintain. Yet when you take a step back from life’s busy-ness, you’ll get to see the finer details where God is answering. God never fails and you’ll need that peace to see His movements in your life.
This is why I believe I’m perfectly fine to have abundant peace in this season.I’m also hopeful that every season God brings new beginnings, fresh starts and something exciting. If you’ve feeling awkward about having more peace than joy, I say stay there. God’s peace has awarded you freedom from the shackles of busy-ness.
With God you don’t need to set KPIs in your life. Just enjoy waiting and resting in His presence. Finally take each day as they come. This is the beauty of having more peace than joy in this season.
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