Grit

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Grit or Grace

Grit is good, grit is great, most of the time! Everyday we seem to need more grit to carry on in this world. It would be very hard to survive, just exist without a lot of grit or determination and drive. There is a term for this grit in the country of Finland they call it sisu.  Sisu is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain that courage. It is a word that cannot be fully translated.

There is something else that we need more than grit and it is free, it might possibly be the most important thing we can have. It is peace, we need peace, an inner peace that has much more power than all the grit we can conjure up. There is only one place to find that true peace and that is God’s peace that surpasses all understanding, it has so much power, the human mind cannot comprehend the power of God’s peace.

In Philippians 4:7 we have a wonderful promise: “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is important to note the context of this promise, because that’s where we find the condition: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (verse 6). God’s peace is promised to guard those who pray—with thanksgiving—about everything. This peace will transcend our ability to understand.

God’s peace is a personal bond between “Him” and each individual who follows him, when people  have his peace they truly understand it, although they cannot explain it. It is there to carry them, each and every day through all the trials and tribulations of this world.

Many people continually pray for peace, peace between peoples and nations to stop all the killing. That peace will never happen according to God’s word which says there will always be wars and rumors of wars.”Matthew 4:6-10 New King James Version (NKJV)”
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Human nature does not change, man cannot get along with man, they let their differences, in some cases large differences over freedom and individual rights control their actions. Many would never live with peace, treating their fellow man equally. Their only hope is in finding  God’s life changing peace.

People in the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church greet each other with, “God’s peace!” There could not be a better greeting than, “God’s peace”! if you have it, you know you want to share it and tell the world about it and hope they can have that same feeling of inner peace. If you have God’s peace in the church building and take it with you when you leave, people all week long, all year long, all life-long will be able to witness God’s peace through your daily actions and how you live your life and treat your neighbor. That is the true gauge of what God’s peace can do.

Our individual grit drives us forward, as we seek peace and Grace. When somebody asks, “How are you?” I hope you can say, “BLESSED.”

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