New Wine family and friends of New Wine,

I am sure no one would disagree with me, if I said that everyone is looking for peace- peace with yourself, peace with the world, peace with God, and indeed peace with your purpose in this life. We all need peace in a world and in our daily lives where we are all faced with stressors, which most often leave us feeling stressed. Whether people know it or not, true peace is found in Jesus alone. We will always face stressors, but they need not leave us stressed, if we know the peace that is found in Jesus.

Jesus says this of His peace, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.’ (John 14:27). Paul describes this peace that is found in Jesus, ‘And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 4:7). Vance Pitman in his book, ‘The Stressless Life’, defines peace that is found in Jesus, in this way: ‘peace is the sense of divine favor arising from confidence in the Lord and your relationship with Him.’

How can I find this peace? How can I experience this peace? There are a number of ways to be filled with the peace of God: to know the God of peace, to live in daily fellowship with Him, to be absolutely honest and transparent in my relationship with Him, and to be intentional about giving thanks to Him. We need to keep all four as part of the rhythm of our daily life, to be filled with this peace that passes all understanding. Today I want to focus on this last one: be intentional about thanking God.

When we choose to be intentional about thanking God, especially in stressful and difficult times, we are positioning ourselves to experience and to be saturated with God’s peace in Jesus. Choosing to give the Lord thanks, even when I don’t feel thankful, and when I don’t feel there is any reason to give Him thanks, I am in fact denying my self and taking up my cross and following Jesus. How can we not but know His peace, when we deny ourselves and follow Him.

You don’t have to feel thankful, in order to be thankful. Vance Pitman writes, ‘feelings follow faith. Thus thankfulness is the result of thanksgiving. And worry and genuine thankfulness cannot abide in the same heart.’ I am learning for myself that I cannot rely on my feelings in deciding when to give thanks. I have to be intentional about giving thanks to the Lord, every day and in every circumstance: ‘Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

When we are intentional about giving thanks, especially in stressful times, we give the Lord Jesus the opportunity to teach and show us something new. Giving thanks in stressful times, is a wonderful opportunity for us to express our faith in Jesus. Our faith grows, as we intentionally worship the Lord, because our focus shifts from ourselves and our circumstances, to the Lord Jesus- who He is and what He has done.

Here is a prayer of thanksgiving, which I have adapted from Vance Pitman, which he refers to in his book, ‘The Stressless Life’: ‘Lord, you see what’s going on here. You know and understand what this is doing to me inside, and you know that I don’t have the resources to deal with this- but I trust You have enough and are more than able to deal with this. So here is the reality of the need that I am facing right now, and I am intentionally laying this burden at Your feet. Lord Jesus, I thank you in faith and expectation for what You are about to do. Thank you for giving me the amazing opportunity to see Your faithfulness and power in action.’ I have been using this prayer of thanksgiving continuously and have been amazed at the deep sense of God’s peace that I find, and the growing confidence in His goodness and faithfulness.

I pray that whatever stressful and difficult time you are going through or may go through in
the future, you will find courage and hope in intentionally giving thanks to the Lord.

Bless you all,
David Stansbury