Pursuing Peace

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This year did not get off to the kind of start I anticipated. I wanted to ease into it and for the first four days, I thought I was winning. I spent New Year’s Day by myself doing laundry and some housekeeping. I cooked myself a meal and enjoyed it over an episode of Grace and Frankie. What I didn’t know was that I’d spend the first weekend of the year sitting outside with the contents of my little flat as the roof was abruptly replaced by the most chilled construction team (during a week with 80% chance of rain on most days).


Everything came to a halt for a week as I moved out with my stuff in the mornings, sat with them outside all day and moved back in in the evenings. Instead of starting my days hitting the gym and putting plans in place for work and school, I was clearing brick and ceiling debris instead. Of course, this wasn’t my first time on this rodeo – we had major renovations at home a few years ago. But this run was different, I really struggled with regulating myself that week. My thoughts and emotions were just running wild, and I had a hard time trying to keep up.


I was five to a meltdown during the day and struggled to sleep at night. I fought feelings of anxiety over ever finding a satisfactory place of residence, and wrestled feelings of loneliness as the only single person amongst couples who’d help each other move their things. After a few days, I made a resolve to be intentional about listening to Scripture and Scripture-based music to help keep my mind anchored. I still haven’t had the time to properly set out my goals for the year, but from that week, I’ve established one major goal for this year: pursuing peace. 


“…seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:14


Our theme for the year at church speaks to submitting one’s mind to God’s counsel so I've been doing a lot of teaching from Romans 8. Paul teaches that peace is one of the results of having your mind submitted to God. “…the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). And so I’ve been more intentional about bringing my thoughts, emotions and will/desires under God’s control so I can experience peace. This is my end of the deal. According to Isaiah 26:3, it is God’s to keep me in perfect peace, but it is mine to keep my mind fixed on Him. The promise of peace is reserved for those whose mind is steadfast – a mind that is unwavering and firmly fixed on God. The promise of peace is reserved for those who are not easily moved because they trust and believe God. Those who are double-minded forfeit the promise of peace because as James 1 teaches us, a doubting, unstable mind cannot receive anything from God. 


“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3


So, to experience peace (even when everything around me is seemingly falling apart), I must believe God more than my feelings. I must lean on what He says and not on my own reasoning/understanding. I must guard my thoughts – not letting them run wild but taking them captive and submitting them to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). I must adopt Philippians 4’s criteria for the kind of thoughts I allow to take residence in my mind. "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). 


Some days I stumble and fall in my pursuit. Some days I just can’t keep up - peace seems to run too far ahead of me - but I don’t mind playing catch up because to have it I must. I refuse to leave this earth without a full experience of the peace Christ purposely left behind for me.


“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you…” John 14:27



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