True Inner Peace

“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬ ‭


“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John‬ ‭14‬:‭27‬ 





The other day, I saw a quote by Pema Chodron that said, “Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.” 


I wanted to like it. At the surface this sounds like solid advice. We know that God’s opinion is the only one we should be concerned with. We also know that we cannot control how others act or the situations we may encounter, but we can discipline our emotions surrounding them. Certainly, we all long for peace in our lives, in our minds, in our hearts and souls. It is easy to hear or read this as sound, helpful guidance for life. Right?


Unfortunately, I don’t believe this is a Biblically accurate ‘truth.’ The Bible clearly tells us that peace comes from God. It is not something we can achieve on our own! Do we need to participate? At times yes, we are called to do that. There are many times, though, when God calls on us to be still, allowing His peace to fill us up while He takes care of whatever was threatening our peace to begin with. In those times our participation feels inactive - but we still must actively choose to trust God.


Peace is not something that we have real control over. Not exactly, anyway… We have the choice to either trust God (seeking & accepting His peace), or we try to do it on our own. I don’t know about all y’all but I am not capable of true peace apart from God. Believe me: I have tried! I have learned, from the Holy Spirit, that once we stop trying to be in control of our own peace, God freely gives us the peace we so desperately crave. 


Let’s look at John 14:27 again… Jesus makes a clear distinction that there are two kinds of peace: His peace and the world’s peace. And they are NOT the same. 


The world’s version of peace is tainted by sin, it is fickle, short-lived, and ultimately fails. We have seen times of peace crumble into times of war over the years. As we read the Bible we see this is a roller coaster we have been on for thousands and thousands of years! The peace of this world doesn’t have its foundation in Christ, rather it has it in the treaties of men. Men are fallible. Men are also not immortal - so when they pass on from this life their successors don’t always honor the same peace. 


Fear not! Jesus give us a different peace. A timeless peace. A never ending peace. A perfect peace that is dependable, eternal, and that  absolutely never fails. Hebrews reminds us, ““Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (13:8) If Christ is never changing, we can be sure that His gifts likewise will stand the test of time. (“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬‬‬)

‭‭

So, if we do want a new catchy quote about peace, one that is Biblically  supported, then we have to include God in the advice. Perhaps instead of the statement we began with, we might say something like: inner peace begins the moment we fully surrender ourselves to God. 


Fully, as in 100%…entirely, completely…every ounce of self given over to His will. I know this is hard. This goes against everything the world tells us. “You do you.” “Do what makes you happy.” “You are in charge of your own destiny.” There are dozens, maybe hundreds of other well meaning but ill advised sayings floating around. Remember: the world is not perfect. But our Savior is fully perfect. Let’s seek His peace.


Lord, we want to thank You for Your perfect peace which You so freely give to us when we surrender to you. We are so grateful that we are able to rely on Your peace, knowing that it will never change or fade. Please help us, when we stumble, to turn back to You to restore our peace for we know that You are the only Source of true, lasting peace. In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen.

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