August 10th, 2023
Thursday, August 10
Peace Is More Than Happiness
By: Lori Ennis
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).
Recently, after spilling my guts about all the craziness in my life, I said, “But…whatever. I know this is what we are supposed to be doing, so I have peace.”
There was silence for a second, and then the person asked, “Are you SURE you have peace? Because you don’t sound very happy about a lot of stuff.”
And she was right.
I wasn’t.
My family is moving. It’s happened quickly. It’ll be far away, in Texas, which feels like another country to me. I’m sad about leaving so many people I love and so many other things, and I’d just shared that I had to buy a new roof I didn’t even get to live under to sell my house.
But I had peace.
Because peace isn’t about what’s going on in your life. It’s not about everything working out the way you want it or think it should be.
It's not even about feeling that whatever hard thing you’re going through is going to end up paying off in some big dividend if you just have faith and trust God. The truth is, you can have all the faith and trust in God in the world and your son can still die. You can still lose your job. Your marriage can still fall apart. Bad things still happen to those who trust and have faith.
God is not a Pez dispenser of good things to those who trust and obey and bad things to those who don’t. There is never any guarantee that you obeying what God asks of you is going to make you happy. Or comfortable. Or even keep you alive on this earth.
But there IS a guarantee that you can have His peace, no matter what.
The peace that Jesus gives us is different from the world's peace. Worldly peace depends on things going well, but Jesus's peace? That's with us in the storms, the challenges and even, or maybe especially, the sorrow.
That’s why it is said that it goes beyond all understanding. (Philippians 4:7)
It doesn’t make sense that your world could be upside down and you can be heartbroken about so much, but still, live and walk in a way that gives you a sense of wholeness and completeness. This is “Shalom,” and it’s known because it stems from a relationship with the One who made you. It’s not about being happy, because happiness is fickle, but the knowledge that no matter what we are facing, God is for us and goes ahead of us if we just listen and obey.
Your circumstances may be troubling, but with the peace of Jesus, your heart doesn’t have to be. Hallelujah!
PS–that roof I don’t get to live under? A family member reminded me that it would bless and cover another family for many years, and there was peace in THAT expense too!
Peace Is More Than Happiness
By: Lori Ennis
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).
Recently, after spilling my guts about all the craziness in my life, I said, “But…whatever. I know this is what we are supposed to be doing, so I have peace.”
There was silence for a second, and then the person asked, “Are you SURE you have peace? Because you don’t sound very happy about a lot of stuff.”
And she was right.
I wasn’t.
My family is moving. It’s happened quickly. It’ll be far away, in Texas, which feels like another country to me. I’m sad about leaving so many people I love and so many other things, and I’d just shared that I had to buy a new roof I didn’t even get to live under to sell my house.
But I had peace.
Because peace isn’t about what’s going on in your life. It’s not about everything working out the way you want it or think it should be.
It's not even about feeling that whatever hard thing you’re going through is going to end up paying off in some big dividend if you just have faith and trust God. The truth is, you can have all the faith and trust in God in the world and your son can still die. You can still lose your job. Your marriage can still fall apart. Bad things still happen to those who trust and have faith.
God is not a Pez dispenser of good things to those who trust and obey and bad things to those who don’t. There is never any guarantee that you obeying what God asks of you is going to make you happy. Or comfortable. Or even keep you alive on this earth.
But there IS a guarantee that you can have His peace, no matter what.
The peace that Jesus gives us is different from the world's peace. Worldly peace depends on things going well, but Jesus's peace? That's with us in the storms, the challenges and even, or maybe especially, the sorrow.
That’s why it is said that it goes beyond all understanding. (Philippians 4:7)
It doesn’t make sense that your world could be upside down and you can be heartbroken about so much, but still, live and walk in a way that gives you a sense of wholeness and completeness. This is “Shalom,” and it’s known because it stems from a relationship with the One who made you. It’s not about being happy, because happiness is fickle, but the knowledge that no matter what we are facing, God is for us and goes ahead of us if we just listen and obey.
Your circumstances may be troubling, but with the peace of Jesus, your heart doesn’t have to be. Hallelujah!
PS–that roof I don’t get to live under? A family member reminded me that it would bless and cover another family for many years, and there was peace in THAT expense too!
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