By Chris WittsThursday 26 Dec 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
Do you feel calm and contented? Are you the sort of person who is at peace with yourself? That’s quite a strange question, and yet an important one at the same time. It means having a sense of engagement with life on a daily basis – not avoiding issues, taking the good with the bad, and trying your best to live a fulfilled life. You feel calm and safe, knowing you have resources to meet whatever life throws up at you.
That’s not to say you’re going to feel on top of everything all the time. No one can be like that. Some of the best-selling books give advice on how to live at peace with yourself, and many people will spend money to find the answers. You don’t regret the past and don’t worry about the future. You live only in the present and do your best here and now. Maybe it’s when you wake up in the morning (or evening if you work nights) generally feeling well rested and good. When there’s no guilt or conscience nagging at you.
God’s peace
Being at peace with yourself means you feel fully fulfilled and content with what you are, and what you have. If you are content you are satisfied and happy. No matter what you do or where you go, there is no way you can survive in this world all by yourself. And this is why you need to
learn how to find and live in peace with yourself and with others.
“Inner peace” is a term that gets misconstrued by other religions and society, but it has a biblical definition as well. In the New Testament, Philippians 4:6-7 says:
“Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come. And know that the peace of God, a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding, will stand
watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ”.
And there is the best news you will hear all day. Living at peace with yourself really works when you are at peace with God. It makes sense really – the God who created you, and loves you, offers you His own supernatural peace, which will never evaporate. It’s much greater than our emotions, and it doesn’t depend on circumstances.
The Scripture is telling us that when we get our relationship with God right, all the things that come our way, which normally would have robbed us of our peace – an economic situation, a relational problem, a health situation – whatever it might be, all the things that would’ve robbed us of our peace, we can take all of that and give it to God, once you make peace with Him. It does depend on us reaching out to Him in humility and faith.
So, some of us don’t have peace with ourselves because we don’t have peace with God. You may have a problem in your life and your default option is to try to fix it yourself.
That might sound fair enough. But you don’t have to work that hard at all. The Bible teaches: No, take all of those things that would threaten your peace, and bring them to Jesus Christ, and you will have peace with yourself – He will give it to you. It’s an external peace that comes from Heaven. A gift that is promised for every believer in Jesus Christ. Every day will bring new challenges to your peace. You can’t stop that from happening. But every day also holds a new promise of peace from God that is totally unlike the peace the world offers.
Jesus said, “I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It is not like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid” (John 14:27). These are the words direct from Jesus Himself that you can claim. When you’re at peace, you feel an inner confidence that things are not running wild—regardless of the circumstances. Your mind is at rest. Your heart doesn’t flutter with anxiety. Your focus is clear.
It might sound too good to be true! But God’s Word is reliable and can be trusted. The prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament wrote:
“You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You, for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You. So trust in the eternal One forever – He is like a great Rock – strong, stable, trustworthy, and lasting” (Isaiah 26:3-4).
We can totally rely on the strong God who is like a solid Rock. He won’t let you down; He will guard you with His own peace, an unending security. It’s not found in mind control or managed situations. The secret to shalom is trusting God. ‘Shalom’ is the Jewish word for ‘perfect peace’. So, in what circumstance do you need peace today? Are you facing a frightening situation?
Lean on Him. Do you feel panicked, unsure of what to do? Trust Him with it. Are you worried about your job, someone you love, or a situation outside your control? Give it to God. He promises you shalom if you lean your full weight against Him, not yourself:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6