We may come from different countries, cultures and belief systems, but we all came from the same family – parented by Adam and Eve. One thing that every human being has in common is the desire for peace in our world and in our own life. The hard part of living in peace is developing peace within our own soul.
Peace brings us serenity regardless of our circumstances, and inner fortitude to bear up under extreme trials and griefs. The more detractors to peace that we allow into our life, the more stress will attack our health, and the less physical and emotional and spiritual well-being we will maintain.
Jesus suffered throughout His entire 33 years on earth with every trial conceivable to mankind in general (1 Peter 4:1; Hebrews 4:15); and yet, He lived in total peace and contentment, as well as in sinless perfection. He gave us His example of prayer, gratitude and righteous living as a pattern for our own life.
We have the same measure of God within us that Jesus had from His Heavenly conception, because once we are truly Born Again by trusting in Jesus’ ransom for our sins, the Trinity of God actually abides within our spirit. We can experience the same inner calm that He did, because we are filled with His Holy Spirit.
We do not garner peace by amassing physical security and possessions, but by deepening our intimacy with Christ in us – the hope of our eternal glory (Colossians 1:27). When life disturbs our trusted routine, we can return to an even keel by holding onto God’s eternal hand, and by hiding under the shelter of His wings within us (Psalm 91).
If peace escapes us, we can take an inventory of our priorities, our busyness, our focus in life, and our friends and activities. Do any of them fail to line up with God’s will for this season in our life? What about our personal values, faults, choices, goals and what we deem as important?
Also, viewing our trials and tribulation from a positive perspective allows us to see the seed for a miracle that God plants within every one of them. Living in humility and service to others bring us more peace than continually striving for more of this world’s goods and successes. When we strive to enter God’s rest, we give up a worldly focus and we exchange it for a spiritual one instead.
Prayer:
Father God, help us to see if we are actually clinging to our anger, pride, sinful desires, financial and personal goals, and unhealthy choices? Even as simple as what we eat and drink effects our overall health (1 Corinthians 10:31). Do we take the credit for what You do in our life? Do we feel puffed up because of the fruit of Your Spirit that You are working into our life?
Remind us to desire an intimate relationship with You above everything else (Psalm 84:10). If we do, we will certainly walk in unsinkable comfort in our soul, abiding peace and eternal rest in You. We adjust to the situations arising in our life when we view them from a position of peace, of faith in Your faithfulness, and of trust in Your goodness.
Thought for the Day:
We experience a daily dose of sweet repose when we adjust our focus from our human understanding of the trials in our life to the reality of our position in Christ; He gives us his eternal peace that prepares us to deal with every situation that we experience on this earth, gives us the security of our position with Christ abiding within us, and provides us with an inner strength to face tomorrow and its challenges.
-Ephesians 3:16; Job 11:18; Ezekiel 37:26; Hebrews 4:9-16
