Personal Peace

   This post may be too personal—if that makes you nervous, certainly stop reading here, you’ve been warned. 

   I’ve in the past struggled with being an anxious person. Being a person of faith, I often feel ashamed to admit this. There is a huge stigma on anxiety in the church in correlation to a lack of dependence on God. I could go on about this, but I won’t since that’s not my purpose. I’ll save that for another day. 

   Anyway, I was reading back on my notes from church Sunday. Pastor Bryan Ries delivered a wonderful message on peace. If you struggle with anxiety, you know that peace is a challenging subject to master. As I was reading back on my notes something really clicked about my personality in my brain. I happened to think I may not be the only one who has mind battles like I do. 

   The quote that stuck out to me the most was, “Peace is confidence and rest in the wisdom and sovereignty of God more than your own.” Breaking that quote apart, that means that peace means putting your trust or faith wholeheartedly in God. This means that peace means there is Someone with greater knowledge, wisdom, and power than you. There is Someone Who not only knows what you want and need, but has the power to fulfill it. I’ve known the power God has throughout my Christian life, so why is peace such a problem?

   Ever since I got my nursing degree in my early 20’s, multiple patients have said I have brought them an unexplainable peace. I’ve also had employees say that I put them at peace as well. When I think of that in relation to that quote, I think about how patients and employees have put their trust in me because they feel I am skilled enough to handle their problems. I have proven myself reliable in some way to them that in many ways they trust me with their lives. 

   As I think about that trust, I think about the many ways I try to rely on myself. Perhaps the reason I bring peace, but don’t always have peace, is due to the fact that I’m also leaning on myself to solve my problems. I learned very young to be independent, to provide for myself, and to take it a step further and help others. None of those things are wrong, until you start believing you are the answer to situations bigger than yourself. Unfortunately, life is full of situations bigger than we expected.   When a diagnosis comes that your body can’t fight on its own, you’re going to need Someone who can help fight for you. When you are transitioning and changing things in your life, you need Someone to help Who knows the next step. 

   Pastor Ries also said, “There is nothing that will come your way that is worthy of robbing your confidence in your sovereign God.” I’ll take that a step further and say there’s nothing that you can handle on your own that is worth you robbing yourself of the joy of having help from a sovereign God. There are many valleys in this life, and from experience I can say there are some that will push you to your breaking point. If you’re going to be at your breaking point, why not be there with Someone Who knows how to put you back together? 

   If you’re struggling today, think about what confidence you may be putting in yourself. I promise you’ll feel much better giving it to God. That doesn’t mean the situation disappears. It certainly doesn’t mean life is easy. What it does mean is peace that brings you through the toughest times. There is nothing that will come your way that your Creator can’t overcome. 

Side bar—if you struggle with any of this: lack of peace, anxiety, or fear, let me know, I’d love to help you overcome!