Peace is a Process

Peace can be illusive.  I lived a number of years without lasting peace, so I want to do everything in my power to get it and keep it! 

If possible, I want to live at peace with everyone, so far as it depends on me (Romans 12:18).  I want to have peace in the midst of every storm, and peace that passes understanding (Matthew 8:23-27, Philippians 4:6). I want to be a peacemaker, so that I can be called a child of God (Matthew 5:9).

But life doesn’t always cooperate with my wishes!  Imagine that…

Not everyone likes me or thinks highly of me.  Can you fathom it?  At this moment, I know there are people in the world who probably actually think poorly of me. In some cases, it would be very understandable. I’m not perfect, and I have it in me to rub someone the wrong way.  We all do.  In other cases, it’s not so easy to understand, which can be frustrating.  Can’t we all just get along???  Um, well, maybe not…

If I want to be at peace even when people don’t like me, I have to take it to the Lord.  I can’t live to please people, but I MUST live to love people to the best of my ability (John 15:12).  Maybe I need to explain myself or apologize for something.  If I can tell a close friend has been injured or offended by me in some way, then I need to seek them out and make it right, if at all possible, without getting defensive.  In other cases, I do my best to connect with the person, but if I hit a wall every time, I’ll let them go and give it to God.  If He desires for us to have a relationship, He will open the door at the proper time.  No worries.

I find that for everything in life that threatens to steal my peace, there is a corresponding scripture that will help me protect it. 

• My own thoughts robbing my peace?  Well, I can take every thought captive and make it obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), then I can train myself to think about things that are true, holy, upright, and pure (Philippians 4:8). 
• If I’m needing people’s approval, I can remind myself that I must live for God’s approval alone if I want to be a servant of Christ (Galatians 1:10).
• And when I’m worried about things in the past, issues of the present, or unknowns in the future, I can renew my mind by remembering that the Father LOVES me, and He takes care of EVERYTHING that concerns me, in Jesus’ name (Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 138:8).  

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

It helps me to know that I don’t have to sit idly by and let my peace be stolen out from under me. Yes, sometimes the fight for peace is longer and more difficult than we might have expected… and OFTEN we have to let go of ourselves, and our own way of doing things… but in the end, peace is worth the effort.

In the end, people are worth the effort. I have seen the Lord take difficult relationships and turn them into gold. He is in the restoration business, and He will prevail if we can just get out of the way. It won’t hurt us to go first in forgiveness for a change… especially when peace is our reward.