Week 4: Peace

Week 4:

Peace 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30

I finally broke free! I had been imprisoned for so long that when I got out, I ran as far and as fast as I could and I was never going back. And I wasn’t going to slow down or stop for anything or anyone. But that is just what I needed to do: SLOW DOWN! But the thought of slowing down terrified me. It meant less time filled with distractions and more time open to think. It meant more time alone…more time to hurt…

I became anxious. Anxious for everything and anxious for nothing. And I couldn’t allow myself to sit still. It was as if I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. I couldn't allow for any free moments to catch me off guard, so I would run. Not realizing at first what I was doing, I filled my time with work, friends, and (what seemed like) harmless activities, anything to keep me going. Because for the first time in so long, I could do what I wanted, be who I wanted, hang out with who I wanted and go where I wanted. I thought of myself as a “free-spirit”. I thought my situation was one to admire! Finally! For the first time in so long I didn't have to answer to anyone or anything…I was FREE! Or at least…I thought I was…

It didn't take long for God to stop me in my tracks, hit me over the head, and show me that this “free-spirit” of mine was just insecurity and pride in disguise. Just because I finally broke free from one form of bondage, doesn't mean I was healed from all. I was still trapped by my insecurity; only, it had taken a different form now. It went from placing me in the wrong relationship, to making me never want to find any relationship. I couldn't allow myself to ever become dependent on anyone ever again. So on the surface, my pride kept me from hurting…but in my heart, it kept me from healing. And when I finally realized this – I felt as if the war would never be over. When would the fight end? When would I finally be able to just breathe?

How can I feel God’s love when I don’t stop and take the time to allow it? How can I accept forgiveness from God when I am too busy to ask for it? How can I forgive myself when all I want to do is avoid my problems? How can I forgive others when all I want to do is avoid them? And how can I change everything in my life for the better when I allow myself to become too busy to even ask God what I need to change? And how can I learn how to have healthy relationships when I couldn't make peace with the very reasons that lead me to unhealthy ones?

The things that “hold us back” can come in MANY different forms. These are the things that keep us “distracted” from what is REALLY going on inside of us. They can be plainly out in the open or they can disguise themselves as something desirable. But no matter what they are doing and no matter where they are pushing us, we are not going forward. And if we don’t ask God to show us what they are each and every day, then we won't know how to recognize them. And it won’t take long before they sweep us up into another distraction. Leaving us no time to heal.

When I finally took the time to settle down, so many worries flooded my mind. Where would I go from here? How was I going to heal? How was I ever going to recover from something so devastating and how long was it going to take? “I don’t have time for this” – I remember sitting on my bed pleading with God to help me just “get over” everything. But that’s not how we were created. We weren’t created to just “get over” things. We were created to FEEL. Happiness. Hurt. We were created to feel it all. Because it all serves a PURPOSE. When I realized that my healing was going to be a process and my pain wasn’t something that was just going to magically be removed from me – that is when I started to take it seriously. I had no idea how I was going to get through all of this. The burden was way too much for me to carry. But that was it! I was the one trying to carry it! I was the one trying to heal myself! I was the one trying to change myself and make myself a new person! It was ALL ME!!! Of course it wasn’t going to work out that way…how can I search for healing and peace within myself when I am the one lacking those things in the first place?

The instructions are clear…”Come to me…” it is THAT simple. Go to HIM.

What do you think of when you think of peace?

God brings us peace to every situation when we ask. When I become anxious and start to worry about life's little struggles, when I become terrified thinking about what’s to come, when the tragedies of life are overwhelming and I don't understand what is going on, and even in those times where I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. God is there and He gives us peace. A peace that acknowledges that there are troubles and worries all around us, yet we are overwhelmed with comfort, because we know that HE is IN CONTROL.

Peace can come in many different forms…

Peace in anxiousness

When we get anxious and start to do things our way because we are afraid God will not take care of it – that is when we start settling for less than what God has for us. Because even the best that we could possibly imagine for ourselves, does not even begin to compare with the best that God has for us. He is the only One who has NEVER let us down. And His promises NEVER fail. And He will always put what is best for us first!

Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I think I struggled with anxiety to a certain degree before my relationship…but after that relationship – my struggles with anxiety only became intensified. I think it just came from being under such a negative microscope for such a long time and always having to be so aware of each move I made and having to have an explanation (or an excuse, rather) for every little thing…

Anxiety quickly became a part of my every day life. I began worrying about the most menial every day things and started having a difficult time being able to focus on simple tasks and make simple decisions.

But when God makes promises, He WILL deliver.

Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

One day I became so sick of my worries and anxieties that I grabbed a pen and journal and sat down and began to write a “worry list”. I wrote down everything was worrying me and all of my doubts. I tried to think about what I was actually accomplishing by worrying about all of these things and when I finally realized that my fears were getting me no where – I wrote down the opposite of all of my fears. I learned to take all the negative views I had developed of relationships and work and every day life and replaced them with what perfect relationships and work and life looked like it – Christ.

Peace in finding direction

Proverbs 16:9: “In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.”

Sometimes when we are making decisions and are unclear of which way to go – we just need to step back and analyze the situations.

God is NOT a God of confusion – but of peace and certainty. If there is something He wants us to do – He will make it clear. And if there is something He wants us to stay away from, He will make that clear as well.

1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”

Peace in fears

What man means for evil – God uses for good!

Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

It’s a crazy world we live in. Full of pain and suffering and deceit and selfishness. But even through ALL of this which we experience, God finds us and makes us into beautiful examples of hope and healing. No matter what someone does to you – God will use it.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

1 John 4:4 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety”

Psalm 56:3,4 “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word). In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”

John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Peace in hurting

It is easy at times to think that we are not supposed to feel pain or hurt or suffering – but we were created to FEEL. Whether it is happiness or hurting. It is all GOOD. If we cannot feel our struggles then we can never grow from them. Thinking about our pain is not a bad thing – it is HOW we think about it that can be damaging.

Psalm 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Peace in relationships between fellow Christians

            We are called to live a life above reproach. We cannot have peace in our relationships unless we learn how to handle ourselves and realize that everyone struggles.

Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.”

Psalm 21:23, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”

Psalm 29:22, “An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression.”

Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Peace in insecurities

            God wants to be the one that we turn to for comfort and security. He wants to tell us why we are BEAUTIFUL! He wants to tell us why we are DESIRABLE! He wants to tell us why He LOVES US! He wants to tell us why we deserve the BEST that He has for us.

And we should go to Him. We should seek for ALL of our security in HIM. Because security can’t come from another human being. Such a perfect thing cannot be created or even offered from something just as capable of insecurity as we are. A girl’s security can only TRULY come from her original Creator – The only One who TRULY knows the worth of her…As Christians, our problem doesn't necessarily originate from us looking in the wrong places…It originates from when we STOP looking in the right place.

Isaiah 26:3, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Colossians 1:19-23 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” 

Peace in frustration

We are not meant to just “get over” things. It takes time and discipline.

Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

He knows JUST what we need. And He will give it to us JUST when we need it – not too soon, and not too late…because we don’t need what HE has for us in our timing. We only need it in His. And His timing is PERFECT.

We NEVER know what God has planned and what He is doing and how He is going to use us!!

Isaiah 55:8-11, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’
declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’”

Christ is in our corner. He is rooting for us to win!!

“Discipline is easy for me to swallow. Logical to assimilate. Manageable and appropriate. But God’s grace? Anything but. Examples? How much time do you have?

David the psalmist becomes David the voyeur, but by God’s grace becomes David the psalmist again.

Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ.

Zacchaeus, the crook. The cleanest part of his life was the money he’d laundered. But Jesus still had time for him.

The thief on the corss: hell-bent and hung-out-to-die one minute, heaven-bound and smiling the next.

Story after story. Prayer after prayer. Surprise after surprise. Seems that God is looking more for ways to get us home than for ways to keep us out. I challenge you to find one soul who came to God seeking grace and did not find it.” – Max Lucado