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3 Ways You can Experience Peace Today
Life has been interesting for everyone as of late! With Covid-19 and Social Distancing in place, Stay at Home orders, and partial openings for businesses, the old normal has gone and a new normal is developing. Many people are facing personal battles of fear, loneliness, depression and frustrations. If one moment you are feeling calm, the next moment the calmness has gone. Anxiety and stress has replaced the calmness. How does one experience peace when the world seems to be falling apart? How does one keep themselves from panic and fear? Here are three ways you can experience peace today!
Claim the Promise of Christ’s Peace!
The Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:37, NKJV) Jesus also said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NKJV)
I encourage you to think about what Jesus said in these verses. He gives his followers his peace. His peace differs from the world’s peace. How so? The world’s peace is temporary, while Christ’s peace is eternal. The world’s peace relies on man’s conduct, while Christ’s peace relies on Christ’s conduct. The world’s peace is conditional, while Christ’s peace is available to all who believe in him!
Trust the Promise of Christ’s Presence!
The key to applying Christ’s peace is in those two words, in verse 33 of John 16, “In Me!” In Christ, abiding in His presence, trusting in His grace—He gives His Peace! His Peace is available to all who call on His Name as Savior and Lord. It is resting in Christ’s Sovereignty and Lordship! It is knowing that God is working all things together for good to those called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). To experience His peace, I need to rest in my relationship with Jesus. To experience His peace, I need to trust in God’s rule for my life.
The psalmist (Psalm 139:16) wrote, “Your eyes saw me unformed, yet in Your book all my days were written, before any of them came into being.” (MEV) God knows all about us! He not only knows, but he cares. The apostle Peter told believers, “So, humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the total weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.” (1 Peter 5:7, JB Phillips)
As a child of God, a follower of Christ, I can come before Him and tell Him all my troubles. I can literally throw, place before Christ all my worries and anxieties. I can do this because he cares for me! You can do this because God cares for you!
Pray the Promises for Christ’s Peace!
God sees my circumstances. He is fully aware. To experience His peace I need to pray continually — listening and telling the Lord Jesus my burdens, cares, worries, fears, longings — everything. By bringing my cares before Him in prayer, trusting His working, I can experience His peace. By telling Christ, my anxieties and stress deflate and he will calm my heart.
Even when reciting the Lord’s prayer, (Matthew 6:9-13), one can recite the verses “give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” The example of these verses means to bring your needs, your sins, your fears to the Lord. Ask Him for provision, forgiveness and courage. Ask Him to grant wisdom (Proverbs 3:5-6) as you pray. Say to Him in prayer the scripture verses that He has given to you as promises. God is not forgetful. He loves to hear His people pray to Him in His Word. We glorify God, when we remember His promises and pray them back to Him. He works on our behalf for his honor and praise. Our prayers are a fragrant offering to the Lord (see Revelation 5:8). He is pleased to hear them.
One of the most traumatic times in my life was when my father was dying. While he was in the hospital, my family and I were staying in a nearby hotel. I hid myself in the bathroom away from my family and cried and prayed all night. I felt pain, anguish, grief—yet during all these emotions was a sense of Christ’s presence and peace. Although I was a wreck emotionally, yet inwardly, I knew God was in control. He had my Dad’s best interest in mind. God called my Dad home to be with Him. Again, Christ’s peace brought comfort as I remembered the promise “to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:8). Remembering God’s Word and praying His promises brings the reality of His peace.
If you are a follower of Christ, how have you experienced His peace? I would love to hear. Please email me or post a comment below. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Growing Together,
Teddy
2 Timothy 1:7