Peace Out!

Photo from my daughter's photography business-Glory Photography.

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I was initially going to write this post about peace in June, but honestly, things kept stealing my peace so I was in no frame of mind to do it.  How can someone write about peace to help others obtain and keep it when I lose my cool over silly things like a driver who hits his breaks when approaching an intersection with a green light?  (GO!!! IT’S GREEN NOT YELLOW!!! YOU IDIOT!!! YOU DON’T YIELD ON GREEN!!!  And yes, I’m indicating yelling with my all caps and multiple exclamation points!!!)  

How can I possibly tell you about peace when I freak out with Customer Service of a company that has screwed up their agreement with me?  I get tested every time by having to speak to someone in a foreign country who doesn’t understand me very well, and I surely can’t understand their thick dialect!  I escalate quickly over outsourcing to someone who isn’t going to quickly fix my problem.

Do I have the right to talk with you about how you too can obtain peace in three easy steps when I lose mine so easily over my husband not tuning into me perfectly?  He should at every moment consider everything I have to say to him as the most important thing he ever heard!  (I really do take issue with the “male selective hearing” but that’s another post!  :)  )

There is definitely a pattern described in the above incidents.  Those situations that I was letting steal my peace are all small and insignificant in the whole scheme of things.  As my daddy used to tell me over and over; and now I see with good reason, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”  I sometimes still do though and in seeking the Lord about why I do that, I feel He has shown me something most of us probably suffer.  He showed me that when I am frustrated or have unresolved anger, those types of situations cost me my peace very quickly and easily.  

My next question is, what am I angry or frustrated about?  I now have an amazing husband who although not perfect, he gives me the life in marriage I always dreamed of.  I feel so emotionally satisfied in that he is making effort to “hear” me and effectively communicate with me.  Even though we sometimes fail at those attempts, we keep trying.  He is my supportive companion and truly connected to me in spirit, soul and body.  I am a blessed woman in marriage which was always something I deeply wanted.  

I am also a very proud mother and grandmother of absolutely beautiful children, (I always consider my son and daughter in-law-kids as my own kids who likewise make me so incredibly blessed in who they are and how they are with my children and grandchildren.)  They all give me such a sense of satisfaction and pride along with delighting my heart and soul in unmeasureable ways.  I have no doubt in the love of my family for me and I certainly love them with all my heart.  

Most importantly, I have the love, adoration, delight, care and attention of my daddy God; my lovely Savior Jesus who has given me everything; and my sweet friend and helpmate, Holy Spirit.  That alone should be enough to make me so content and happy.  What then, is my problem?  Why is it so easy to cast off the precious gift of peace that the Lord, who is the Prince of Peace, has given me?  

Could it be that in living in this fallen world, with its trials and tribulations, I feel like I have not had enough of the things manifest in my life that I am holding out my faith for?  Perhaps I have been seeking God for answers about things for such a long time now, that in my opinion, enough is enough, and now I feel like God is holding out on me.  Instead of enduring and trusting God that His timing is perfect and just honoring Him with my patient pursuit of Him instead of constant frustration over what I don’t have, I instead lose my cool and let my peace go by the wayside only to have to go after it once again.  Then, lets add guilt in the mix to that because what the heck do I have to feel “cheated” about when I just told you what a blessed woman I am and how amazing my Lord is in giving me LIFE?

One day a couple of months ago, God gave me a clear picture of this predicament.  I was following my husband in my vehicle as he was driving his own and leading me through an area of town I was uncomfortable and not familiar enough to just go by myself.  We had stopped at a red light.  I patiently waited and the light turned green.  However, the line of traffic remained steadfast.  I patiently waited for what I consider enough time for the realization to set in that “Hey…you up there in front of everyone…get off your phone and realize you need to move!”  Still no movement, so I gave my horn a quick “Hey buddy, you need to go” tap.  To my mounting frustration, there was still no movement.  I honked ever so slightly longer, with a little more determination, but to no avail.  Being totally exasperated, I now lay on my horn!  I saw my sweet hubby look in his rear view mirror at me and frankly, couldn’t understand why he hadn’t taken the lead in the honking brigade.  He just sat there as well, as if oblivious to the green light!  Traffic finally began to move and wind to the right as the traffic light is located on a curve.  As I rounded the corner, I could see what the holdup had been attributed to.  In the middle of the road was a fire truck that needed to get into a specific area and therefore needed to stop traffic until it could maneuver into position.  From my vantage point, I was limited in my capability to see what all was up ahead of me.  

I immediately thought of the prophet Balaam, in the Old Testament, whose donkey wouldn’t move forward like Balaam wanted him to because he had the capability to see into the spirit realm and could see danger ahead.  The donkey’s refusal to budge actually resulted in saving Balaam’s life, even though Balaam was very impatient and thought about destroying the donkey.  Balaam was the true ass in that story…as was I!  I felt so convicted of my impatience and lack of trust that God can see all things and knows best in His supreme wisdom.   I am short sighted in my humanness and know only in part.  

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  (James 1:2-4 NASV and AKJV)

Peace due to trust in God is my gift from Him to help me get through those times of waiting.  Seeking peace is more important than seeking my answer.  When I go too far in seeking my answer to something, I will know it because I will lose my peace and get frustrated, angry, anxious, bitter, or confused.  In that, I am in pride as I want to override God’s timing and ways.  I have therefore removed myself from His grace which helped me when I humbly trusted Him.  This all demonstrates that I have become focused on the problem/solution instead of God and have become impatient.  

 “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it may tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”  (Habakkuk 2:3)

The Bible tells us “Let the peace of God rule your heart, acting as an umpire; deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your mind.” (Collisions 3:15 Amplified Bible)  Just as with ballgames, and the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, so are we to let peace make the calls for our lives.  

How do we know if we have peace?  What if we don’t feel like we have any peace because our heads are a mess with thoughts, fears, conflicting opinions, etc?  Where is our peace?  

First of all…be still…be quiet.  Settle down your mind and emotions and perhaps even your body.  Take some deep breaths, (breathe in for 4 seconds, and hold for 7, exhale for 8 seconds.  Repeat a few times until you feel a sense of calm.  You can Google “4 7 8 breathing” to get more specific information.)  

Your spirit, where the Holy Spirit resides in Christians, is in your belly; “Out of your belly flows rivers of living water,” John 7:38.  That’s why we say, “gut feeling.”  It’s that place deep in your gut, also called your “heart”, not your head with all its “change-by-moment” emotions and reasonings.  It’s the place that even if your head is saying one thing, your heart can say another.  It’s the place of “knowing.”  You just know…  We’ve all experienced a time when we overrode what our heart was telling us, then suffered the consequences of that disobedience.  We thought, “Dang!  I KNEW better!”  Listen to this deep place inside your heart and refuse to let your thoughts or emotions rule.

 

Some reading this post may have to Google what a Polaroid Instamatic camera is to help you understand this next analogy.  A Polaroid operated by pointing the camera at your subject, clicking the button and out would shoot a blank, square sheet of plastic.  As you watched, patiently, that plastic would instantly begin developing the subject of which you just focused your camera.  It would take a couple of minutes and then you would have the complete image developed before your very eyes!  This is how our spiritual focus works as well.  Whatever we focus our attention on, that is what will develop in our lives.  That’s why God gives us choices and tells us the right way to focus, because He wants only the best to manifest in our lives.  

If we keep our focus on the Lord, He will keep us in perfect peace.  There are times when I am so tempted to freak out, that I then have to picture myself like a horse with blinders on.  I cup my hands on both sides of my face and picture His lovely face directly in front of mine, so close it blocks out everything else.  I focus on keeping my eyes straight on Him and not looking to the right or left at all the things that are vying for my attention.  Those distractions are being used not only to get me off track but cause me to give up my peace.  If I have on the full armor of God, then I also have on the part of that armor that I need to walk successfully in this life.  I’m speaking of those lovely shoes of peace which are more beautiful than any pair of hot, six inch stilettos I have in my closet!  Those shoes of peace help me continue to move forward, with each purposeful step.  Just as I have to choose to take each step I take, I also have to be purposeful to stay in peace.  It is a choice.  I can choose to keep my peace or I can choose to let it go and blow up, freak out, get in fear, get frustrated, cuss, or whatever other method I choose to be in the stead of peace.

I once had a dream in which I was underwater on my side.  I was struggling ferociously with trying to breathe.  I was gasping with eyes closed and fighting through the water to just try to breathe and come to a place of rest.  I opened my eyes and could see a man floating quietly alongside me.  He was likewise on his side and watching me but not interfering or trying to assist.  He was just waiting.  I began to be more focused on Him instead of my struggle and instantly a sense of peace and calm washed over me.  Although still under water, I realized I had begun to breathe rhythmically and deeply.  Once under the influence of peace, He and I began to swim together, side by side, stroke for stroke.  It was a spiritual water ballet of its own beauty and splendor; a communion of the dance in a way that transcended the most elegant waltz.  I know the choreographer of that lovely dance and the Life Guard who saved me from drowning in that dream was Jesus, my Lord and Savior.  I learned from that dream that if I would just surrender to Him, He will give me His peace which passes understanding which will move me through this life with all its struggles and disappointments, wounds and trials.  It’ll be ok.  I will be alright, and I will have emerged from the things that tried to steal my peace more than an overcomer in Him who loves me. 

If you are feeling like you are struggling, you are going counter to the peace the Lord is trying to give you.  Tell yourself, “STOP!”  It’s time to draw back, get quiet and focus on Him.  

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10