I had locution a few months back. A deep sense of peace pervaded quite suddenly and Jesus told me all would be ok.
I thought that meant I would live the rest of my days in the peace of our lord Jesus.
however it turned out I had lots of challenges, awful mental health problems and such like happen to me after that event.
how do I keep faith in suffering?
When you say "locution" do you mean speaking in tongues?
Believers often fall short of Jesus, desiring the feelings he might give them, rather Jesus himself. They want to feel calm, contented, peaceful and strong; Christians want Christ's strength, and joy, and goodness; believers desire an unflappable inner stability, material blessing, and constant sensational spiritual experiences. But Jesus? The Creator and Lord of All? The King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Our Master? Our Ruler? Not so much. For many, Jesus is only desirable insofar as he might impart to them the things listed above. If walking with Jesus doesn't fill them with peace and power, well, why should they bother with him at all? If they don't feel stable and joyful trusting in Christ as their Saviour and yielding to him as their Lord, why should they go with him? If their life doesn't meet with material blessing and regular, sensational supernatural occurrences in living as a follower of Jesus, what point is there in their keeping after him?
There is a very...consumerist attitude in this thinking, isn't there? People want to use Jesus like a tool, as a means to something else, to something more, than just himself. They want to
feel satisfied; they want to
feel stable; they want to
feel...something - preferably very positive in nature. But Jesus isn't a feeling; he's
a Person. Whether he makes us feel good or not, he is still the Maker and Sustainer of Everything, the Creator and Judge of All, our perfectly holy and loving Savior and Lord, and as such utterly worthy of our submission, and worship, and love.
Really, a sense of peace, supernatural feelings of contentment and calm, "joy unspeakable and full of glory," deep, abiding, self-sacrificing love arise properly
from a knowledge of who Jesus is, from
a settled confidence in his unchanging grace, mercy, holiness, wisdom and power. When this is so, our peace, contentment, stability, joy and love don't vacillate, they don't ebb and flow, rising and falling like the tide, overwhelming us at one point and abandoning us at another. Instead, joy, love, peace and stability that are anchored in a knowledge and trust in the constant, holy, omnipotent Savior, that rest in the truth of Christ's unchanging perfection, remain, unshakeable, regardless of circumstance or physical state of the body. This is how a believer can discern mere human sentiment, mere human feeling and emotion, from the divine "fruit" obtained as the believer "looks unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith" (
Hebrews 12:2-3) and "beholds as in a mirror the glory of the Lord" (
2 Corinthians 3:18), and is changed into his image by the Holy Spirit. When our peace comes and goes, when our inner stability rocks and heaves with our circumstances, when our love and grace dissolves under hard treatment by others, we know they have been mere human things, weak and easily eroded in reflection of our frail, ignorant, flawed humanness.
How do you come to reside in the unalterable contentment, stability and peace of Christ? Well, to start, stop thinking these things are separate from Christ, mere feelings to chase after, that he doles out, bit by bit, if you are spiritual enough, and persistent enough, and faithful enough.
Christ is the peace, strength, love and joy that he offers to us; if you want these things, you must want
him. Going deep with him, living under his constant Lordship and to his glory (
1 Peter 5:6; 1 Corinthians 10:31), naturally produces in your life the fruit of doing so.
James 4:6-10
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
7 Submit therefore to God...
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Galatians 5:16-25
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh...
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law...
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law...
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Romans 8:13-14
13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Do you see the theme running through these passages? Living under the Spirit's constant control, being led by him, remaining humbly submitted to his will and way throughout every day, is key to God drawing near and to His exaltation of you; it is key to living apart from the control of the Flesh; it is key to bearing the "fruit" of God, His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and so on. Are you remaining in submission to the Spirit throughout each day? When the choice to choose your way over his confronts you, do you submit yourself to the Spirit, by faith, waiting on him to move you along his way?
What do you know of Christ both scripturally and experientially? Are you well-versed in the Savior revealed in the pages of the Bible? Do you know well how he behaved and what he taught? Do you understand him and his message, shared with you in Scripture? Or is your knowledge and understanding of Jesus all secondhand, pre-chewed for you by another believer, flavored by their preferences, personality and understanding?
Do you have a personal daily experience of Christ, or, rather, of the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit (
Romans 8:13; 1 Peter 1:11), who convicts of sin, teaches the deep truths of God, strengthens in times of temptation and testing, comforts in seasons of suffering, and disciplines those whom God loves (among other things)? (
John 16:8; John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; Ephesians 3:16; Philippians 2:13; Philippians 4:13, Hebrews 12:5-11) It is as a result of this experience that the believer's confidence in Christ, in his power, goodness and love, deepens and stabilizes, over time settling the Christian in unshakeable, joyful communion with him.
Is there unconfessed sin in your life? Are there things you've come to believe, and desire, and do that are sinful but of which you have yet to repent? Nothing stops up our growth and enjoyment of God like sin. We can't fellowship with God when the "cup" of our life is dirty. He will not fill us with Himself, with the Spirit, and thus transform us, so long as we have not forsaken our sin (repented) and agreed with God that our sin is actually the sin God says it is. (confession)
James 4:8-10
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Revelation 2:4-5
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first...
1 John 1:8-9
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As your life is purified of sin and your fellowship with, and experience of, God deepens, with these things a settled confidence in Him develops, a stable, solid certainty in His power, goodness and love forms and from this confidence and certainty, arises "the peace that passes all understanding," the "perfect peace" that "keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." We know him to be our peace, the Prince of Peace, in fact, not just as a proposition, as an idea, but in our daily experience and from this knowledge arises an enduring joy and peace that does not fade away but grows, bit-by-bit, day-by-day.
