Whenever we face afflictions and persecution, Satan comes to us whispering fears and lies: “How are you going to make it through this crisis? What will you do now? If God is faithful, how could He allow this to happen to you? How could He put your loved ones at risk this way? What will become of you, your family, your job, your ministry?”

Some of you going through difficult situations are in a dangerous place with your faith.

I must ask: Have you allowed seeds of unbelief into your heart? Do you have serious questions regarding God’s faithfulness? Instead of worshiping Him, do you doubt Him?

“Lord, why haven’t You intervened for me? Why have You allowed such confusion in my marriage, my family? You have put on me more than I’m able to bear.” Such an attitude can lead to a hardened heart and eventually spiritual deadness.

A messenger brought a frightful report to Asa, the king of Judah: a million-man army was heading toward them! The Ethiopians and Lubims had combined forces, and now this large army was racing toward Judah, bent on its destruction.

On the very day prior to this, Asa had called on the people to give thanks to the Lord for the peace and blessings they were enjoying because they had sought him. Now we read, “And there came out against them” (2 Chronicles 14:9). Overnight, Judah was at war, facing one million hostile soldiers.

God, by His Spirit, creates peace—He causes it to happen—and He creates it in you.

I’m not just talking about peace with God. The peace He creates in you is peace of mind, a peace that springs up and flows within, healing, stabilizing, building confidence.

When you have such peace, you stop trying to play God. You stop trying to solve your problems and everyone else’s. You stop playing over in your mind what might happen, what fearful thing might come to pass.

“I create the fruit of thy lips; peace, peace” (Isaiah 57:19). This is one of the most encouraging promises in God’s Word. The Lord says He will drive out from us the spirit of fear and implant in us His supernatural spirit of peace. Isaiah repeats the word “peace” here to emphasize that it is a continual peace.

The Holy Spirit promises, “I will create peace in you.” Once we experience this peace, it will become a creative word that flows out of our lips to others.

“Ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 66:13).

What a prophecy! This verse speaks of comfort in the Church, of every member of Christ’s Body lovingly nourishing one another. It is an image of God’s people comforting each other’s hurts and entering into their sufferings.

A mother will stay with her sick child until the cure comes. She will even endure a child’s rejection of her love. That child may fall into sin, disregarding all his mother’s words of guidance and correction. He may become overwhelmed with despondency or unbelief, or become proud, stubborn and rebellious. Yet, through it all, his mother never gives up on him.

The love of the Father toward us, embodied in His Son, has been committed to the ministering work of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit has been sent to humankind to reveal the majesty and glory of this everlasting love.

“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. . . . I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit” (Romans 5:5; 15:30). The Holy Spirit is the eternal love of Father and Son. All His works, all His ministry, are ordained to express and manifest that love.

“Christ . . . a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years” (Hebrews 3:6–9, my italics).

Right now, the world is heading into great turbulence. There will be events and chaos that naturally bring fear. But God has said to us, “My Word is in you. You are covered under the shadow of My hand. And YOU ARE MY CHILD.” It is time for us to fasten our seatbelt, open our Bible and talk to our Father through it all. He has said we are not going down: “I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved” (Acts 2:25).

I urge you to make this powerful word from Isaiah your own: