You can have peace in your heart
December 5, 2008 (Friday)
The news each day seems designed to make us feel ill at ease. Inner peace is a little harder to have, as the economy continues its downward trend.
Do you have peace within?
What do you need to have that peace? Please let me suggest a few things.
We need certain material things, like food, clothing and shelter. If those three basic needs are met in your life, you are far better off today than millions of people As you read this, in some countries children without parents live in the streets and seek food in the trash piles. Many things we want are not necessarily necessities. We need to be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil 4:11 NIV).
We need people. We need others in our lives. We need each other. The cruelest punishment in the prison system is solitary confinement. The big drawback to space travel in the future is the isolation that would continue for years. As Christians, we need fellowship with other Christians, because we understand each other and can help each other experience God’s peace within.
We need relaxation and a sense of humor. Exercise helps. Getting out of doors into the sunshine helps. Laughing relaxes us. Peace within requires us to enjoy life as it is, not as we wish it to be. We must learn to accept the present circumstances and stop comparing what is today with what was or what might have been. Relax.
We need the Lord. With Him we experience the inner strength that prayer brings. Perhaps we need to recite to ourselves the old hymn, “Trust and Obey.” (<--click for sound and all verses)
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.