Confess the Beauty
There is a song by Tim Hughes that I've been listening to a lot the past few days and contemplating the words "confess the beauty of Your peace". How do we confess the beauty of His peace?
In the scriptures we confess our sins and we confess our faith but I can't seem to find where we confess the beauty of His peace. There is a lot of declaration - which is defined as an official and emphatic affirmation - of Him: In Psalm 19:1 the heavens declary His glory. In Psalm 22:22 His name is declared. In Psalm 51:15 we declare His praise and in Psalm 71:17 we declare His marvelous deeds. So how do we confess the beauty of His peace?
Tim's song explains it. Here is a link to his website where you can listen to an mp3 and purchase the cd. http://www.timhughesmusic.com/ And here are the lyrics:
Beauty Of Your Peace
Your voice has stilled the raging storms
The wind and waves bow down before
Your still small voice brings hope to all
Who wait on You, we'll wait for You
To lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
And all our earthly strivings come to cease
Take from our souls the strain and stress
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Your peace
The beauty of Your peace
Bright skies will soon be overhead
We'll enter in to Heaven's rest
There'll be no death, there'll be no pain
The things of old will pass away
You'll lead us to the place where You’ll restore our souls
And all our earthly strivings come to cease
Written by Tim Hughes
(Chorus based on a prayer by John Greenleaf Whittier – Public Domain)
©2004 Thankyou Music / PRS / Admin. by worshiptogether.com Songs for the world excluding the UK and Europe which is admin. by Kingsway Music
We will confess the beauty of His peace at the time of our death if we have received the gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But we will also confess the beauty of His peace in this life by resting in Him - by allowing Him - His presence - to take from our souls the strain and stress of earthly strivings. The result of a life of peace that can only be explained by abiding in Him is a confession of the beauty of His peace. When I lay my head on the pillow at night, can I review my day and see it as a confession of the beauty of His peace? Or was my life that day a confession of the strain of too many obligations? Or of the stress of finances, relationships, decisions, obstacles, and choices that I haven't surrendered to Him?
I want my life to be a confession - an active disclosure - of the peace of God that keeps me from striving and lets me live in quiet confidence without the edginess and irritableness that comes from the stress and strain of everyday living. So what would that look like? Instead of becoming frustrated by traffic on the way to the office, I would simply enjoy the extra time to spend praising and praying (and plan to leave earlier in the future so that I'm not late for work!). Instead of being irritated by people around me, who, unfortunately, are less intelligent and less savvy, I would simply smile and bear fruit of the Spirit - bearing with those people in love, kindness, gentleness and patience. And instead of becoming depressed or angry when things don't turn out as I have planned or desired, I would simply thank Him for moving in His timing and according to His plan to bring about His perfection instead of allowing things to happen to the crazy beat of my own foolishness. And I would live out this confession of the beauty of His peace not by my own volition or determination, but by watching what I see Him doing and joining Him - letting His peace and His strength rule - letting Spirit control my flesh.
Colossians 1:8-10 in The Message is my prayer for myself and for all those who love Him and want to confess the beauty of His peace: Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
Thank you, Father God, for making me strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that You have for me. I will listen for Your still small voice, wait on You, let You take the strain and stress from me, order my life, and lead me to the place where my earthly strivings cease. I will confess the beauty of Your peace.
Amy
In the scriptures we confess our sins and we confess our faith but I can't seem to find where we confess the beauty of His peace. There is a lot of declaration - which is defined as an official and emphatic affirmation - of Him: In Psalm 19:1 the heavens declary His glory. In Psalm 22:22 His name is declared. In Psalm 51:15 we declare His praise and in Psalm 71:17 we declare His marvelous deeds. So how do we confess the beauty of His peace?
Tim's song explains it. Here is a link to his website where you can listen to an mp3 and purchase the cd. http://www.timhughesmusic.com/ And here are the lyrics:
Beauty Of Your Peace
Your voice has stilled the raging storms
The wind and waves bow down before
Your still small voice brings hope to all
Who wait on You, we'll wait for You
To lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
And all our earthly strivings come to cease
Take from our souls the strain and stress
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Your peace
The beauty of Your peace
Bright skies will soon be overhead
We'll enter in to Heaven's rest
There'll be no death, there'll be no pain
The things of old will pass away
You'll lead us to the place where You’ll restore our souls
And all our earthly strivings come to cease
Written by Tim Hughes
(Chorus based on a prayer by John Greenleaf Whittier – Public Domain)
©2004 Thankyou Music / PRS / Admin. by worshiptogether.com Songs for the world excluding the UK and Europe which is admin. by Kingsway Music
We will confess the beauty of His peace at the time of our death if we have received the gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But we will also confess the beauty of His peace in this life by resting in Him - by allowing Him - His presence - to take from our souls the strain and stress of earthly strivings. The result of a life of peace that can only be explained by abiding in Him is a confession of the beauty of His peace. When I lay my head on the pillow at night, can I review my day and see it as a confession of the beauty of His peace? Or was my life that day a confession of the strain of too many obligations? Or of the stress of finances, relationships, decisions, obstacles, and choices that I haven't surrendered to Him?
I want my life to be a confession - an active disclosure - of the peace of God that keeps me from striving and lets me live in quiet confidence without the edginess and irritableness that comes from the stress and strain of everyday living. So what would that look like? Instead of becoming frustrated by traffic on the way to the office, I would simply enjoy the extra time to spend praising and praying (and plan to leave earlier in the future so that I'm not late for work!). Instead of being irritated by people around me, who, unfortunately, are less intelligent and less savvy, I would simply smile and bear fruit of the Spirit - bearing with those people in love, kindness, gentleness and patience. And instead of becoming depressed or angry when things don't turn out as I have planned or desired, I would simply thank Him for moving in His timing and according to His plan to bring about His perfection instead of allowing things to happen to the crazy beat of my own foolishness. And I would live out this confession of the beauty of His peace not by my own volition or determination, but by watching what I see Him doing and joining Him - letting His peace and His strength rule - letting Spirit control my flesh.
Colossians 1:8-10 in The Message is my prayer for myself and for all those who love Him and want to confess the beauty of His peace: Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
Thank you, Father God, for making me strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that You have for me. I will listen for Your still small voice, wait on You, let You take the strain and stress from me, order my life, and lead me to the place where my earthly strivings cease. I will confess the beauty of Your peace.
Amy
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