Finding Peace
by Lucki VanAtta | September 29, 2011
As I look out the window and see the majestic oak straining in the late September wind, I know that on the windward side the tree will be sending down a deeper root, to add strength for future winds. I thank God that in a similar way, through prayer and unconditional trust, I can ready myself for future trials and worries.
Because of our inclination to pack our hours and days full to overflowing, you and I often long for serenity and peace to somehow find their way into our lives. I've discovered, though, that peace really doesn't mean absence of tension or concern; it simply means we can honestly say, "It's okay." Peace comes not from the lack of conflict in our lives, but from the ability to cope with hostility and frustration.
The Lord says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)
You and I want external answers to prayer, but those words promise internal answers. We are unable to receive the promise of verse 7 until we follow the precepts of verse 6.
Prayer warrior Andrew Murray wrote:
Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God himself to do his work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God's messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us.
Toward the end of the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus clarifies the kind of peace he is talking about, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to 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)
I'll settle for that kind of peace any day!