The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

WITH all the turmoil going on in the world and people facing new challenges in their lives, many are looking for peace.

In an attempt to fill this void, some people end searching in the wrong places. Some turn to their careers, projects, relationships, or seek peace in their travels to new places.

But in his new book, “The Missing Peace”, Dr Delton Fernander aims to shed light on true peace means, how people can the find it, and how it can manifest in their lives.

“What I tried to develop in this book is that what people have been looking for externally, they can find internally,” he told Tribune Religion.

Peace, Dr Fernander said, goes far beyond experiencing a state of restfulness, calm or tranquility. In the biblical sense, peace signifies total completeness – nothing is missing and nothing is broken in one’s life. This kind of peace can only be acquired from God, he said.

“A lot of what is happening in this world today is that people are looking for something else to complete them; some project or promotion. And a lot of the frustration is due to the lack of satisfaction in who we are and who God created us to be,” he said.

Knowing who God created one to be and the call he has on one’s life helps people with coming to this place of completeness and peace.

“It begins with a realisation that only God can give this peace and when he gives this peace he says this is the peace the passes all understanding.

“Many people believe their life is incomplete and because it is incomplete they feel ‘I need to search’. That fulfilment in life does not begin outside of you. If I am going to develop into that person God has called me to be, I must be confident that He has given me everything that I need for the journey,” said Dr Fernander.

Even though many believers have a relationship with God, he added, some are not experiencing this peace in their life. In his new book, Dr Fernander answers why this is the case.

“As believers we give Jesus our heart, but not our life, so we accept Him as our personal saviour. However, we don’t check in with him. We compartmentalise our lives. We don’t allow him to have effect in every area. You would hear people say, ‘This is my career and I am working hard, but I don’t have the feeling that God put me here’,” he said.

“Many people limit the call of God on their lives to working or serving in the ministry. I don’t see how what they do on daily basis, in whatever field they are in, as doing God’s work.”

However, Dr Fernander said discovering that call of God on your life can represent a big part of that missing peace so many experience. And the call of God extends far beyond the four walls of the church.

“We have to all accept that we a part of this royal priesthood. If we start looking at those who have Rev, Father, Bishop, Apostle (in front of their names) as the only ones who are called and anointed, we miss it,” he said.

“If I am not working in the church office or preaching from the pulpit, am I less anointed? You have to see yourself as God giving you the ability to do what He has called you to do. There is a portion in the book of Deuteronomy that says God gives us the power and ability to do things. So we have to see those things as gifts from God. He has given us all the talent to do those things we have been gifted to do. We can’t be any less Christian and not see ourselves as anointed bankers, anointed mechanics or anointed in any field we are in.”

A preacher, teacher and motivational speaker, Dr Fernander seeks to broadcast the Christ-centered message of deliverance and restoration to everyone. He is the organiser and current lead pastor of the New Destiny Cathedral in Nassau and the past presiding bishop of Kingdom Building Pastors and People International.

Husband to Calpurnia Fernander and father to Caleb and De’lyn, Dr Fernander currently holds the posts of president of the Bahamas Christian Council, executive secretary of the National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, board member of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, board region member for New Covenant College. and district chaplain of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

“The Missing Peace” is available for purchase from the New Destiny Baptist Cathedral Church office on Dowdeswell Street and on Amazon.