Perfect Peace: How to Beat Your Fear in Hard Times

Jerusha AgenFighting Fear 61 Comments

Jerusha: I’m delighted to welcome my good friend and fellow author, Stacey Weeks, to the FW Blog! Stacey is giving away one print copy of  To Sweet Beginnings in Sycamore Hill, to one of you! So read on and enter the giveaway below!

By Stacey Weeks

In general, the Western world—and many in the church—do not know what to do when confronted with fearsome circumstances or unexpected suffering. We need only to observe the world as it navigates out of a global catastrophe that has torn through churches and communities to see that God’s people haven’t always suffered well amidst the fearsome unknown. Yet our responses have the power to either draw others to the Lord or drive them away. How we represent Christ while we face our fear matters.

This is part of the reason I love writing fiction. It’s therapeutic to craft characters who love the Lord and then put them into situations where God stretches and tests their faith. It helps me work through impossible choice scenarios, consider how to rebound after failure, and how to seek the Lord humbly.

Meet Meg Gilmore

Meg Gilmore seeks more than an absence of anxiety, fear, or stress. If that’s all that inner peace required, her twisted insides would have smoothed out when she escaped her abusive ex and resettled in the small town of Sycamore Hill. But the peace she sought didn’t come through removing the source of tension.

Meg wants the Lord to remove the root of her fear (like her ex trying to extort her). She wants God to save the ancient tree that’s become her safe space. But neither would guarantee her the kind of peace that remains when the storms rage. She needs a peace that is different from the world’s peace (John 14:27). A peace that doesn’t come through the removal of trials but from enduring the trials with a trust that what the enemy meant for destruction will be the very vehicle God uses to strengthen her soul.

Meet Eli Martin

Eli’s need to control his environment feeds feelings of anxiousness and challenges his theology. Which is true? His chaotic feelings or God’s promise of peace?

His flesh whispers that failure is guaranteed, but the Spirit says he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him (Phil 4:13).

His flesh pushes people (and God) away, but wisdom says to humbly seek the Lord, and God will meet every need (Phil 4:19).

His flesh screams there is not enough time, but the Spirit reminds him there has always been enough time when he keeps the Lord first (Matt 6:33).

Yesterday, fear overwhelmed him.

Today, he starts again with the Lord and trusts Him for another day.

God’s mercies are new every morning. He is faithful (Lam 3:22-23). Eli knows this. Now, he has to live like he believes this.

The Sycamore Standoff

Meg and Eli fight for biblical thinking one day (one hour!) at a time, and they learn to live and focus on each day as it comes, not worrying about tomorrow (Matt 6:34). Peace follows this battle for their minds.
It is exhausting but freeing. It feels dangerous yet is safe. It provides no answers, but it causes them to depend on the One who holds the answers, and that is why it brings peace within circumstances that haven’t changed.

Meg’s fearsome past still exists. Eli can’t control the present. Yet peace anchors them—to God and each other.

Perfect Peace in the Face of Fear

Managing our circumstances will never bring lasting peace—the darkness and pervasiveness of sin roots far too deep than that.

Instead, peace comes with an understanding that God uses suffering to accomplish far more extraordinary things than He would by removing suffering.

Like Eli and Meg, I’ve found God in the blessings and provisions of life, but the spectacular sights and rewards that come from the harder work of seeking God in difficulty are even more precious.

God has strengthened me to endure and revealed that nothing I fear can limit His hand.

Have you experienced God’s peace in the midst of trials? How has His peace helped you conquer your fear? Please share!

Photos by M.T. ElGassier, Kien Do, and Aleksandr Ledogorov. Original graphics designed by Christen Krumm.

Stacey Weeks is a ministry wife, mother of three teenagers, and a sipper of hot tea with honey. She loves to open the Word of God and share the hope of Christ with women. She is a multi-award-winning author, the primary home educator of her children, and a frequent conference speaker. Stacey has a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Ministry from Heritage College and Seminary, and she is working toward a Graduate Certificate in Biblical Counselling. Connect with Stacey on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and head over to her website where you can sign up for her newsletter for a free copy of her short story Under the Summer Mistletoe!

Stacey is giving away one copy of To Sweet Beginnings in Sycamore Hill! Enter via the Rafflecopter below! (Giveaway ends July 5, 2022. Due to shipping costs, we can only mail to a US mailing address.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sweet Beginnings in Sycamore Hill

When a disgraced woman’s return entangles the lives of five couples, twenty-four hours changes everything forever.

A whistleblower speaks up, and she tips the first domino of a twenty-four-hour chain reaction on the eve of Sycamore Hill’s most important holiday event.

A baker gets a career-making opportunity, a reporter chases the truth, a woman faces her greatest fear, and a lost child returns as the dominos continue to fall.

The residents of Sycamore Hill approach a new year, and five couples celebrate sweet beginnings filled with endless possibilities in this short story sequence introducing a new five-book series.

Purchase a copy here.

 


The Sycamore Standoff

She wants independence. He wants her affections. They’ll have to face her past for any chance of a future.

Escaping an abusive boyfriend, Meg Gilmore finds refuge in Sycamore Hill. She’s particularly drawn to a 250-year-old tree she names Alfred. Like her, Alfred is a survivor, and the shade beneath its protective branches is her go-to place for solace. When a construction firm slates the majestic tree for destruction, Meg resolves to save Alfred. But Meg underestimates an adversary who refuses to yield to her requests to work around the tree.

Eli Martin’s family money is as old as the tree Meg is desperate to save. Attracted to Meg from day one, he sees Meg’s campaign to save Alfred as his chance to seal her affections. The best way to fight big business is to attack them in the pocketbook, and he devises a plan that Meg’s adversary won’t be able to afford to fight.

When Meg’s ex arrives, Eli once again rises to her aid. However, Meg insists he can’t simply throw money at problems to make them go away.

Together they face what truly terrifies Meg, finding freedom and love in the most unlikely places.

Purchase a copy here.

Comments 61

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  1. Thanks for the post on fear…something we all need to deal with.

    Sounds like a lovely read. Looking forward to it!

    1. Hi PJ, I hope you get the chance to read The Sycamore Standoff. I’ve really enjoyed writing this series. Good luck in the draw for the series starter, To Sweet Beginnings in Sycamore Hill.

    1. I hope you read the entire series 🙂 I have LOVED visiting Sycamore Hill. A new title releases every three months. Book one is out now. Book two comes out in September. Good luck in the draw for the series starter (short story collection).

  2. I always enjoy your monthly emails. Thank you for this opportunity to maybe win a free book! Blessings to you and yours!

  3. Enjoyable post with a lot of food for thought. Thanks!

    Would love the opportunity to read and review “To Sweet Beginnings in Sycamore Hill”. Thank you for the c

  4. This book sounds and looks like a great read. I enjoyed reading the blurb and it makes me want to read the print format of this book.
    I sure would love to read & review this book in print format and love books like this.
    There should be more books out there like this and ones that encourage you for as much turmoil this world is in,
    chaos and so much more.

  5. I really enjoyed reading about the book and think it will be a very interesting read! Thanks for the opportunity!
    It was also nice to find a new author and I can’t wait to read your books!

    1. I hope you enjoy them, MJ. I also like Christian fiction with substance, and it’s nice to find readers who also appreciate the struggle of living our faith represented in the story. Good luck in the draw.

  6. Peace…. that is not a word we hear often enough today. We are in turmoil, but it is refreshing to know where we can find peace in God. Thank you for sharing!

  7. Oh, the peace of Yeshua! I really enjoyed reading this blog!! I would love to read this book as well as the series 🙏♥️. Thank you for the chance to win this book.

  8. Great post. This is something that I’ve had to learn after my husband left. To lean on God and the peace that only He can offer. The book sounds wonderful, and I look forward to reading it.

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