Peace is a Person

Peace seems to be pretty hard to attain sometimes, doesn’t it?

Even when it seems that life is going right- personal balance and contentment can occasionally be just out of reach. For some of you, an inner feeling of calm comes naturally and not much can ruffle your pretty little feathers (I envy you). For the rest of us, there are many things DAILY that threaten to steal our joy and sense of balance. While I absolutely believe that peace comes through prayer and the closer we are to Christ and the more we allow His Spirit to live through us, the more inner-chaos retreats. However, there are still times when anxiety, fear, doubt, impatience, frustration, bitterness, etc. all take a stolen seat on the throne of our hearts.

When you find yourself in this place (and yeah, you will), you can either do one of three things…

1. You can allow it to permanently steal your joy, sinking you into a dark pit that convinces you God is ignoring you and that you have lost your purpose.

2. You can “survive” day in and day out by treading the waters of life and simply get by until the circus inside of you finally pulls out of town (if it does).

3. You can realize that the type of peace necessary to overthrow those troubled times will only come by drawing close to the Father.

Reading Scripture, praying, serving others, etc. are all completely necessary for growth as a believer and doing the job God has called us to. Sometimes though, it just doesn’t seem to be enough (through no fault of God’s of course- but simply because we’re human and, at times, cannot fully get to a place of calm without it coming straight from the Father’s hands). So, how is this attained and what exactly is this kind of peace? It isn’t just contentment, it isn’t simply an absence of anxiety, true peace is a PERSON. The Prince of Peace created it, embodies it, and gives it freely to all who desire it. The closer Christ is to us, the more peace He brings with Him, and the less room stress has in our hearts.

James 4:8 says;

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

That means that when we reach for our Abba, He reaches right back for us- THAT’S where the peace comes from. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times- it’s my life’s mantra and I believe it is the key to anything we may have to endure or wonder about in this life-

We have to get close enough to God to feel His heartbeat! You can quote me on that.

We have to essentially climb up into the loving lap of our Heavenly Daddy and lay our weary heads on His chest. There is a peace that passes all understanding when we are cuddling with our Creator. Sound overly mushy? GOOD! When’s the last time you pictured God like that? When we can hear His heartbeat, the world stops being so loud. All of a sudden the things of this world aren’t quite as important because we can hear the breath of the Spirit of God. I dare you to find a peace that matches that.

How exactly do we get closer to Christ? Well, of course He speaks to us through Scripture, He holds us in prayer, and He uses countless other things to grow us… but He LOVES to lean in and hear His children praising Him. (Is it egotistical? Would it be egotistical for you to create breath itself and then feel happy when that breath thanks you and says it loves you? Of course not!) When God leans in, we get all the benefits that come with His closeness. That doesn’t mean we’ll never struggle and that life will always be peachy-keen. What is does mean, is that the peace that follows in the footsteps of the Father acts as our strength and shield when facing life’s challenges. With peace- comes joy, with joy- comes strength, and with strength- comes the ability to become and accomplish everything that God has destined for us in this life. Get closer to Him this year, it’s the best resolution you could make.