My Search for Peace

Sometimes I feel so weighted down with my problems that I get overwhelmed. I feel like I can't handle them anymore and I am right. I can not handle them on my own but God can. In John 14:27 God tells us, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does." You do not have to depend on yourself anymore. Depend on God. Put your complete trust in Him and let Him handle your problems.

The topic of peace holds a dear place in my heart because it is how I came back to my relationship with God. I think about it and I get emotional. I searched for peace everywhere. I wanted to live my life the way I wanted to live it but I wasn't at peace. I finally got tired of not being at peace and I turned to God. One day in mass, I got down on my knees and I prayed, "God I want peace in my life. For so long I feel like you kept telling me that you wanted me to go back and reconcile my marriage with Ed, but I don't want to. I told you that my way was better than Your way and I was going to do it my way. Well, I can not find peace. I want peace in my life. I feel like you want me to reconcile my marriage, but I don't want to. I wasn't happy. I want to be happy. I don't know how it would be. I don't know if it will work." And that is the first of two times that God has literally spoken to me. He said, "Trust Me." I looked around and no one was speaking. I did not doubt for one moment that that was God actually speaking to me. Who am I that God would choose to speak to me? I felt and still feel profoundly unworthy. The only thing I can come up with is that God knew that He had to do something extreme to get my attention and yes, He got my attention. I said to Him, "Okay, God. We will do it your way. I tried it my way and I can't find peace. I want peace so let's do it your way." The message here is to trust God. Give your life to God that is when you will experience true inner peace. I put my trust and faith in God and am doing His will and I am at peace for the first time ever in my life. He wants you to experience that kind of peace as well. Give your troubles to Him. Let Him worry about them. You don't have to anymore. The only place we can find true, healing, lasting peace is through Jesus Christ. The world can not give you peace. You can not find peace in others because they are only human and people will eventually let you down. When I give control of my life over to God and put my trust and faith in Him that is when I feel true inner peace.

Perhaps you are weathering a storm in your life as well. I know the waiting is the hardest part. Every hurt can become a learning experience. Ask yourself, "What is it that God is trying to teach me? What is it that I am supposed to learn from all of this?" God is waiting for you. God wants you to turn to Him. He wants to wrap you in His loving arms and grant you peace. All you have to do is turn to Him and ask.

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.^[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he^[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

May you find Peace, Joy, Love and Happiness through Jesus Christ.
Blessings.