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"Jesus knew that no matter how bad the circumstance, he could trust God to provide the kind of peace in the soul that can only be described as prosperity."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 114.
Jesus was the most prosperous person to have ever lived. If you look to money for how prosperous Jesus was, you will be sorely disappointed. If you consider his significance as to how prosperous He was you will be shocked at how little impact on the immediate world He had when He was alive. If you take into account any of the many things you and I might think makes us prosperous, there is no way that Jesus should be considered the most prosperous man to have ever lived. Yet that's what He was.
Jesus had this ability to have peace in the soul unlike anyone who has ever lived. That peace came from the fact that He knew God wouldn't do anything that would make their relationship be less than it had been since the dawn of time. Money will come and go. Significance will shine brightly, then it will fade. All the other attributes we are so quick to pursue, when it comes to prosperity, are here one day and gone the next. Peace in the soul is something that makes the other things we settle for in this world pale by comparison when it comes to prosperity .
If that is the case, then what is peace in the soul and how do we get it? I don't know if I can definitively answer those questions, but I do have some thoughts on the subject.
Let me start by describing what I think peace in the soul is NOT. Peace in the soul is not that feeling of comfort, satisfaction, security or well being that the world is so quick to assign to what peace is suppose to look like. Each and everyone of those things are not permanent. One moment it is hear and the next moment we have lost our peace because that characteristic is MIA (missing in action). Peace in the soul is not something we can get by what this world offers. Peace in the soul comes as we seek something extra-worldly for the prosperity this quality brings to our lives.
Peace in the soul is a calm and quiet in the storm. Jesus displayed this peace in the soul as he slept in the back of the boat during that stormy day out on the lake. His disciples were scared to death. They were afraid the terrible storm they were in was going to kill them. They looked to Jesus and saw Him peacefully snoozing His and, as they thought, their lives away! Take a look at this story with me now.
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Matthew 8:22-25 (NIV)
Can't you relate to the disciples fear and angst? Even though these were experienced sailors, this storm had them all afraid for their lives. It must have been a pretty bad blow, if they were that scared. How is it that Jesus could be so sound asleep when experienced sailors were at the point of panic because of the storm? That's what peace in the soul does for us when we let it be what takes over our lives.
You see, Jesus didn't have a care in the world. First of all, He knew that he wasn't going to die in a boat, in the middle of a lake on a stormy day. Jesus knew He had a destiny with death but that kind of death on a lake that day wasn't what He would face. There is a peace that the soul gravitates to when purpose is at stake. Jesus knew He was part of a plan bigger than just succumbing to a passing storm. That knowledge let His soul rest in ways that made His body follow suit.
Then there is the fact that Jesus knew who He was. You see, even if God decided to let Jesus die in that boat, what did it matter to Him. The sooner He died, the quicker He would be reunited with His Father and all those who loved Him so in Heaven. Either Jesus was going to live through the storm with God or He was going to die and more fully be with God for eternity. The prosperity Jesus was exhibiting as peace in the soul came as He lived a win-win kind of life. That kind of prospect is something the soul loves and peace in the soul is a natural result.
Interesting thing is that the exact things that made it possible for Jesus to have peace in the soul is just as true for you and for me. It was also true for the disciples as well. That's why Jesus was so quick to confront them on their faith after He had calmed the storm. He said to them, "Where is your faith?" I believe He was asking them why they couldn't see their destiny and identity as clearly as Jesus could in His life.
It is during those times that panic is driving all the peace out of my soul, I need to be asking the same question. Where is my faith? Don't I believe I am who God says I am? Don't I believe that He has a destiny for me? Why am I letting this storm make me doubt my identity and the destiny that is empowered by that identity?
Maybe, the next time a storm hits my life, I need to ask myself where my faith is. Then I need to realize that the object of my faith is curled up in the back of the boat we both are in. Why not go snuggle up with my faith and just ride out the storm letting the heavenly rest wash over me. I'm just as destined as Jesus. I'm just as much identified as He was. I'm a Child of the King just like my big brother Jesus. There a power in that fact that promises peace in my soul unlike anything else I have ever seen in this world.
Let peace be what guides you today. That peace won't let you down. Sure you might be in for a rough ride. Fact is you might not come out the other end. Either way, you just can lose. God is with you now and will be with you whether you get to the other side of the lake or not. That's the power of victor living that we have at our fingertips. Don't let the storms of live drive you to question who you are or your destiny as the victor God has called you to be. Let the rest of God sweep over you and bask in the prosperity that is peace in the soul that God has made a way for your to have this fine day.
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