Declaration 2023: The DevotionalsSample

Liberation from Distraction

- by Elder Sharlette Reid

Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.’ (Isaiah 26:3 KJV)

We don’t have to look far beneath the consistent hum of life, the business of technology vying for our attention, wars across our nations, and the regular activities we nestle ourselves in to notice we are deep in the throngs of change. These changes are sold to us in the name of modernisation, faster and more efficient lifestyles and freedom from the systems and processes we have all grown accustomed to.

Some of us are starting to drown in the noise of it all. At times we have found ourselves bound by busyness and frustrated by the tensions of so little time and so much demand.

It’s clear we are contending in the greatest fight for our freedom, and it’s a fight for our peace.

Peace is one of the greatest commodities we can possess in life. Many people are suffering from the stress of life that comes in the form of high tides of anxiety, fatigue, frustration, comparison, financial disruptions and exhaustion.

I want to encourage you today. God wants you to protect your peace. Peace is not coming from something or someone beyond you in a gold box with a red ribbon. No, peace is the gift we have already been given, which is why the scripture reminds us that the Lord helps to ‘keep us in perfect peace’ rather than give it to us. As long as our minds are focused on him, we can live free in a peace that surpasses all understanding.

So, what’s been warring against your peace? Is it the need for the subtraction of harmful influences, people or activities? Or maybe it’s some overdue additions, such as setting new routines and boundaries to protect our time? Either way, we must fight for our peace to regain the liberty we have been given through Christ!

Filter out the noise and disturbances that do not belong. God wants you to live in peace again!

Prayer

Lord, I pray we will have the courage to face our distractions and lifestyles of busyness. Help us be liberated from disruptions that do not belong. I ask for the freedom that is in his peace to regain our liberty through Christ. Amen.