Finding Peace

                                                                                                                               

Aloha Dearest Family,

How do we find peace in a world of chaos? The answer to this question seems impossible to find. The world that we live in is filled with turmoil and trouble and thoughts of peace seem so far away. You would think that God's children would corner the market on having peace, but it seems that often times Christians are in just as much in need of peace as everyone else. Since most of us work in a hospital this is even more evident. Pain, anxiety, desperation and even death are a part of our everyday work environment. So how do you find peace in a world such as this? To find the answer to our question, we first need to go to "the source of all truth and practice," — the Bible. What does the Bible say about having peace? (Much!) I offer the following scriptures,

 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. (Psalms 119:165)

The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. (Psalms 29:11)

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (Psalms 37:11)

 In the church age, to which you and I belong, peace came with Jesus Christ. On the very night of his birth the angels spoke to the shepherds of "Peace on earth, good will toward men." This was a very powerful statement to all mankind, but it's ultimate fulfillment came with the work that Jesus Christ accomplished for us. In reality, you can't have real peace without the Prince of Peace. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all of our sins are forever washed away. We are cleansed from all unrighteousness. We now have peace with God (Romans 5:1). But even though we have peace with God, we still have to work to put the right thoughts into our heads and filter out the bad ones. This job is up to us. We can live every day in great peace no matter the circumstances surrounding us. We just need to change our focus.

It is too easy for us to be affected by what is going on around us and be swayed by people who we think have the answers. We need to learn how to be "God's Word oriented" and not "world oriented". We can never allow the ideas of men to be elevated above God's words and thoughts. In truth, we will find grace and peace only by a knowledge of God, found in the Bible, 

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. (II Peter 1:2)

God never meant for us to be constantly beaten down by the world. God wants us to cast off all thoughts of fear, distress and defeat and walk out with great freedom and victory! The god of this world, the devil, has designed this present evil world to steal your peace. Almost everything you see and hear on the radio and see on TV and read in papers and magazines are designed to cause fear, worry and doubt in people's lives. I learned this many, many years ago, but recently experienced it first-hand. One morning in 2012, around the time of the presidential election, I woke up, spent time in prayer and studying the Bible. When I started out for work I was full of peace and much joy. On my way to work I turned on a radio talk program that focused on the upcoming elections. By the time I got to work I was very upset and angry. Why? What had changed? God had not changed. I had allowed my peace to be replaced by anxiety and of the things going on in the world. Only by staying our minds on God and the words of God will we be able to find peace and remain peaceful and claim the powerful life that God wants us to have. 

Thou (God) wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee. (Isaiah 26:3) God promises that He will keep us in perfect peace if we stay on minds on Him.

A great key to remaining peaceful is to surround ourselves with the thoughts inspired by God, 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

The more we are able to do this we will find great peace and remain peaceful no matter what is going on around us. If we are careful about what type of music we listen to, what TV shows we watch and what material we read, we can retain Godly thoughts. It also helps to have some scripture verses memorized so that we can pull them out at any given moment to counter negative thoughts that we are confronted with. Remember, this is our job-not God's. God has done the hard part, the rest is up to us.

Jesus encouraged his disciples by saying, 

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27) 

Jesus wanted his disciples to have his peace. This was spoken a few hours before his arrest. Jesus knew before-hand what he would face. He knew of the more than 40 hours of physical and mental torture that he would have to endure. And yet he had PEACE. It is not the circumstances surrounding us that determine our peace. It is staying our minds on God for in Him there is peace.

Love Always, Ray the peaceful