Are You Willing to Change Your Ways to Discover Peace?

Has the chaos of the world closed in on you? Perhaps you feel defeated, afraid, and desperately in need of something that will quiet your soul. You are not alone; I am right there with you in pursuit of that inner calm in my daily life. However, it requires something of us. Are you willing to change your ways to discover peace?

These last few years have taken a toll on all of us. Perhaps on top of the world’s problems, you have encountered unexpected events like illness, anxiety, mental health challenges, unemployment, a sick loved one, cancer, addictions, a failed marriage, or something different. The added frustration and losses each of us could count are numerous and contribute to losing some of our tranquility in life.

Looking For Peace in the Wrong Places

What are the ways you look to discover peace in the wrong places? For some, it may be an extra glass of wine, relationships, food, exercise, work, endless television, vacations, or rest. For others, it may be a lie we tell ourselves that daily inner calm is okay to postpone, that if we gear up and work hard when this task is over, we will enjoy peace.  

Not all of these are bad, yet do they bring that lasting inner peace we desire and need in the here and now? 

Failure to Re-evaluate and Pivot

My word for the year was “persist.” A perfect term for a person whose motto is “never give up.” I sometimes push, at all costs, to attain my goals. I’m the one you want on your team when a job needs to get done. Or perhaps you don’t. 

I attached this word to a few goals, set steps, and was thrilled to attack the plan. However, life threw me a curve ball with unexpected circumstances beyond my control.  

These last six months have been a challenge for me. How about you? With an overcommitted schedule (which I hate to admit), family members struggling, Covid, and too many projects beyond my current capacity, I have lacked peace on too many days.

Please tell me I’m not entirely alone in this! Perhaps not today, but at some point in your life.

When life sends me an unexpected challenge, sometimes I struggle to change the course I’m on. After all, I don’t want to fail. Plus, if God initially set me on the path, why wouldn’t He want me to continue? So, I tend to give more of myself, work harder, and focus on solving the situation rather than trusting God will make a way through it.  

As I entered a dark and brutal place alongside the people I love, God whispered two words in my ear—“pivot and grace.” But I resisted letting go of my word “persist” for the year. I wanted to attain what I had set out to accomplish. As I persisted with my original plans, there were still moments of tranquility, but my overall daily internal serenity began to fade away. And it was more challenging to discover peace.

Listening to God

As weariness set in, I began to make changes and felt a little more inner calm. But then the Lord whispered, “More.” Confused and baffled, I couldn’t figure out what more meant. And honestly, I didn’t want to re-evaluate and pivot anymore because I felt like I was giving up on the dreams and desires He placed in my thoughts, and most of all, I feared letting others down. 

I was absolutely willing to embrace life amidst the unexpected, but I wanted to hang on to it all. I offered grace in abundance to others, yet was slow to show it to myself. And then, to make matters worse, I looked around and compared myself.  

The Comparison Trap

It is hard not to look around as friends appear to pull it off without a hitch. We ask ourselves, why not us? Don’t let social media posts fool you. After all, don’t we usually share the best parts of our lives with the world and hide our internal turmoil? We look as if life is spectacular and pain-free, yet everyone struggles to hang on to peace at some point. 

But comparing ourselves to others isn’t all we do. We often look back and think we endured more before; indeed, we should be able to handle these circumstances without slowing down.

So, is there a way out to quiet our souls? The answer is Yes!!

There is Only One Person We Need to Discover Peace

There is only one person we need to find inner peace—God. The answer seems simple; however, for some reason, it is oh so challenging at times to implement. Our humanness seems to interfere.

Will you stop and sit still and let the Lord’s peace wash over you? Will you do it again and again?

Control What We Can

We certainly don’t have total control over what goes on around us, but what about what is inside us? Inner peace is attainable when we continually step into God’s presence, let go of our burdens, and fix our eyes on Him. We can seek more of Jesus.

Trust me; God is at work in the midst of the unexpected. He will never stop working; He will never abandon us. Jesus can work on the inside and bring us a sense of inner peace. Like David, we can take everything to God and know He is at work even when we can’t see progress.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

(Psalm 23)

Why not allow God to lead you by still waters?

Re-evaluate and Pivot with God

After a few too many comments from friends brave enough to speak into my life and sleepless nights, I chose to listen to the words God kept whispering—pivot and grace. I swallowed my pride and decided to make changes. And then I offered myself—grace.

Grace to linger a few more minutes in the morning before hitting the ground running, to feel the wind whipping through my hair instead of sitting inside at a desk with my eyes glued to the computer. Time to sit on the beach and let the sun warm my skin instead of constantly being in forward motion. Grace to ask for help, disappoint others, and leave things undone. But why was it so important?

When I offered myself more grace, the best part was I received more of Jesus which was what I needed in this season of life. Time to dwell in His presence, sit in awe of the beauty He created and listen for His quiet voice as He guides me.

Will you slow down and ponder what it might look like in your life to take in more of God’s peace?

 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.
 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.
 Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”
 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46 NIV

In stillness:

Perhaps your inner soul needs more of God like mine. Will you permit yourself to let go of what is keeping you from the Lord? Together lets, sit still with Him to know Him intimately. Let’s let His peace that makes no sense wash over us.

Are you willing to change your ways to discover peace? What steps will you take to allow more time to be still with God?

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