With all the craziness happening in the world, where do you find your peace? 

I’m not going to lie, there are moments when I throw the thought of peace out the window and just allow my emotions to dictate my life. I believe there is a type of restfulness that accompanies peace, and when I’m feeling anything but restful I can usually tell there’s not much peace in my life. Right now, there is almost nothing to do but rest, yet I have found this to be one of the most difficult things to do. Instead, I spend time worrying about situations I can’t control, situations which I know God has His hand in already. The type of rest I’m lacking in my life is spiritual rest. And when we find spiritual rest, we can find peace. 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. -Philippians 4:4

If only it were easier to rejoice just because Paul wrote it twice…

Many people right now are being faced with difficult situations. Some have lost jobs and some are facing serious disappointment because big plans have been canceled. However, none of this changes the fact that God is good. He calls us to rejoice in Him even when...no... especially when things aren’t going our way. But when life isn’t going as planned and we are finding more disappointment than gratification, how do we handle that?

The truth is, there’s not much that can be done by us. Most are feeling disappointed right now, and that’s okay. For some, all of the downtime may be uncovering even more dissatisfaction that was buried deep within. But listen: God understands our hurt and disappointment. He hears our cries and our requests. It’s in these times he wants us to lean on Him most. God wants us to find contentment in Him, even in the midst of uncertainty. He wants to heal you of your hurt, however small. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:5-6

To the believer, this verse rings true. We all know that we are supposed to praise God in trials, and we know that he is the peace-bringer, but we still don’t always rely on His goodness when we are feeling anxious about the future. 

Over the past several weeks, I have found that I’ve had not much else to do except reflect on my walk. And when there’s nothing to do but reflect, it’s easy to see the areas where I’m not allowing Christ to fill my life. Suppressed hurt and disappointment have been waiting around for me to acknowledge them and allow them to uproot my life and steal my time. But therein lies a choice.

Imagine how beneficial this time can be if we spend our days reconnecting with the Lord, no matter how disconnected we currently feel. What if we don’t allow those discouraging thoughts to distract us from what’s important? 

This advice I give not only to you but to myself: use this time to allow the God of peace to fill your life. Get to know Him. Reconnect with Him. Let Him bring you His Spirit of rest. Then find hope in imagining all that he will do through His people who have dedicated their time getting to know Him like never before. God’s people can emerge from this with a stronger love for each other and a deeper relationship with Him. Our God is so much bigger than any situation we are going to face, and we can waste time being anxious about the unknown, or we can use our time allowing God to fill us with that peace that surpasses all understanding.