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Searching for how to find peace in the midst your storm? All of us do at some point.
When a storm approaches you do all you can to prepare.
Then the maelstrom hits, sirens screeching, alarms clanging, gale-force winds, pounding rain, wave upon wave of sorrow, leaving in its wake a path of destruction in every direction.
Once the storm blows past, you sit amidst the broken pieces of shattered lives and wonder how anything can possibly ever be the same.
But I’m here to tell you, that you can not only survive the storm, but thrive in the midst of it. You can know how to find peace–an unfathomable peace–in the midst your storm.
I know because I’ve lived through the most heart-breaking of storms and come out on the other side.
How To Find Peace – The Definition
Man’s definitions are often a far cry from God’s, and peace is one such word. To most people, peace is defined as the absence of conflict, war, or strife.
God’s definition goes much further and deeper. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, and it conveys a wholeness, completeness, and integration of the person at peace.
In sharp and total contrast, the word “pieces” reveals fracture and brokenness. In fact, the word “anxious” as used in the Bible, carries with it a splintering, division, and fracturing of the human mind and heart.
How fascinating (but no surprise to God) that His peace and life’s pieces are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum.
How important that we learn to keep our focus on Him–especially when our lives feel shattered into a thousand pieces.
How to Find Peace – The Example
Peter should’ve known better.
After all, he’d been with Jesus. Had observed amazing miracles. Had sat under His profound teaching.
So when he asked Jesus to invite him out of the boat and into the storm-tossed waves, he should’ve known where to focus his attention.
At first Peter kept his eyes glued on Jesus, but in his peripheral vision he caught sight of the enormous waves. In other words, he got distracted. All it took was a brief glimpse in the wrong direction, and he sank like a stone.
Thankfully, he immediately recognized his desperate position and cried out for help. Jesus stretched out a hand and rescued him, but not without admonishment. “Oh, you of little faith. Why did you doubt?”
But really, we can’t be too hard on Peter. We’re just as guilty of sometimes losing our focus. (Or even worse–we refuse to get out of the boat.)
A truth about God’s peace and life’s pieces has become so transparent as I’ve written the Christmas novella, Pieces on Earth. I’ve been reminded of the direct correlation between our focus, God’s peace, and life’s pieces.
When we–like Peter in the beginning of his walk-on-water journey–keep our focus on God, we experience His peace. But when we allow ourselves to get distracted, to focus on our storms rather than the Stiller of Storms, we sink into the crashing ocean waves of life’s broken pieces.
How to Find Peace – The Message
God’s Word is full of the wonderful message of His peace, always available to those who place their trust in Him. Following are just a couple of these verses on His peace and life’s pieces (AKA anxiety and life storms). And with these verses, you’ll learn two very important connections on how to find peace.
1. The Connection Between Trust and Peace
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You. ~Isaiah 26:3
The meaning behind the phrase “perfect peace” is described by some Bible scholars as “double peace” or “peace, peace.” Notice that our part in finding this double peace is to keep a steadfast mind, placing our complete trust in God.
Trust is more than just a statement; it’s always proved by our actions. We can say we trust someone or something, but does our behavior lend evidence to our faith? Only as we fully hand the reins of our lives over to the One who made us can we experience God’s perfect peace.
2. The Connection Between Prayer and Peace
Be anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7
First notice the imperative command to not be anxious. Why? Because fear and faith cannot co-exist. When one moves in the other moves out.
Secondly, see the specificity of the prayer of supplication combined with thanksgiving–an attitude that realizes our loving Father can and will deliver us from our anxiety.
The original language for “guard your hearts and minds” carries with it the idea of a fort or garrison. When we pray to God, turning our anxiety–our pieces–over to Him, thanking Him in advance for His His incomprehensible peace, God sets up a fortress around our hearts and minds.
So the short answer on how to find peace in the midst of your storms?
Trust Him and pray.
* * *
As the wife of a naval aviator and young mother in sunny Pensacola, Florida, Liv Tulley eagerly anticipates the first Christmas in several years with her husband, daughter, and extended family. Then her husband is unexpectedly deployed for an undetermined amount of time, smashing her white Christmas dreams to pieces, as she shoulders a secret and battles unrelenting fear. Can she find God’s peace in the midst of life’s pieces?
Read sample chapters here:
http://www.catbryant.com/books/pieces-on-earth/
Amazon best-selling author Cathy Bryant loves to write heart-stirring stories of God’s life-changing grace, and has done so through six Miller’s Creek novels, two Bible studies, one Christmas novella, and two devotional books written in collaboration with other Christian authors. She’s also written for The Upper Room devotional magazine. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her rummaging through thrift stores, romping in the great outdoors, or up to her elbows in yet another home improvement project in the mountain cabin she shares with her minister husband of over thirty years. You can connect with Cathy in the following online spots, including her website: http://www.CatBryant.com, where you can download a free eBook copy of one of her novels.
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Barbaea
/ December 2, 2015I am excited about Pieces on Earth. I know it is going to be really good. Thank you for all your gifts as well as the gift of writing.