PEACE

Five letters, one word, but when it appears, it destroys millions of competing thoughts to bring us to a place of rest in the Father’s truth. Peace is something that so many of us strive for yet so few of us have as a regular part of our lives. One definition of peace is “freedom from disturbance” and another is “freedom from war.” In our day and age, we truly have to fight off a war of competing thoughts to steward a place of peace in our hearts and to keep our attention on The One Thing (Psalm 27). What would our lives look like if we could steward peace despite our circumstances, distractions, pain, or lack? What if we knew at a core level that we are God’s children and because of that, we knew that He will always keep us safe and will always be present with us in our darkest and most confusing times?

Stewarding peace in our lives means that no circumstance or situation can change our perspective on God or shake the security we have in Christ. When our hope is fixed solely on Jesus who paid a great price to win us over, no storm in this life will ever again have the power to move us (Psalm 91). We are firmly rooted in God’s overwhelming love (see Romans 8).

I have good news for you. It’s easy to steward peace in our lives if we simply follow what has already been given to us in God’s Word:

Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV) says,

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Let’s break this down into three simple action points:

1. REJOICE

Choose to rejoice in God always. This means to celebrate His goodness in good times and in bad. It means worshiping Him at all times because He never changes (2 Chronicles 20). Always means always; not just when things are going our way. If He can trust us to fix our affection on Him during hard times, He can trust us in good times to continue to keep our focus on Him. And praise God; the Lord is always near! No matter what the situation, God is near to our hearts. Because of His nearness, we can choose to be anxious about nothing and rejoice always!

2. TRUST

Let go and let God move on your behalf. In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we are to give our requests, burdens, cares, questions, and uncertainties to God. TRUST, another five-letter word but when lived out changes everything. What would our lives look like today if we truly trusted that God is for us (Romans 8:31)? Or that He is working behind the scenes on our behalf even now to bring us into a greater level of the abundant life He died for us to have (John 10:10, Ephesians 3:20, Hebrews 12:1-2)? Because of who He is and His great faithfulness, we can trust Him with our whole hearts.

3. THANK

Practice gratitude, it’s a privilege. When faced with a great need, it’s the perfect time to recount times in the past where God has come through for you in a similar situation. Furthermore, move beyond just thanking God for the past; learn also to thank Him for the future. Trust in His character and begin thanking Him ahead of time for the breakthrough He will bring. Thank Him that He has already gone before and is preparing a way to bring perfect alignment. Thanksgiving and praise opens the gates to more of God’s presence (Psalm 100:4).

Stewarding peace is simple when our perspective is in alignment with heaven. Proverbs 3:5-7 (NIV) summarizes it quite well.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways (acknowledge or) submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

We literally don’t even need to say another word because these Scriptures say it all. All we have to do is actually believe and apply these truths to our lives to receive this incredible gift of peace that transcends what we can see in this moment. God’s ways are so far above our ways (Isaiah 55:9). If we truly believe the truth that if God did not spare His own Son, how could He not also, along with Him, give us all things (Romans 8:32), we can more easily trust Him with our daily cares. If God cares for the birds of the field, how will He not care for us who are more valuable to Him than these (Matthew 6:25-34)?

When we let go and trust God with our burdens, our hearts are wide open to receive the peace that passes understanding. This peace comes when we no longer lean on our own ideas of what’s happening in our situations but instead we choose to trust that God has a bigger story in mind. I want to encourage you to pray the following prayer out loud as an act of walking in peace:

God, I give you all of my burdens today. I let go. I entrust each of my concerns into Your loving arms. Thank You that You have already gone before me to bring breakthrough and to provide for my needs. I thank You that You care about what concerns me. I choose to rejoice in Your goodness and to celebrate Your faithfulness. I thank You for what You’ve done in my life in the past to get me to where I am today. I acknowledge that You are a good God with a great track record in my life. I renounce fear, anxiety, torment, and any distractions in my life that would keep me from You. I declare that only Your truth is welcome in my life. I believe that You are for and with me in every circumstance. I stand in faith and hope that in Your perfect timing, You will make all things new. I trust that You will bring me to where I need to be as I keep my eyes fixed on You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

I bless each of one you with the courage to let go and to trust God with all that concerns you. Instead of worrying about the future, I declare the Father’s love and peace to permeate every cell in your body. As you trust in God with all your heart, may you receive a fresh baptism of the love of the Father. As you practice thanksgiving, I pray that your perspective shifts and that you receive a peace that transcends unanswered questions. In this moment, may you be filled to overflowing with His peace that passes understanding. Blessings to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*If you want to learn even more about how to Steward Peace in the Midst of Storms, check out my latest book Walking on Water: Experiencing a Life of Miracles, Courageous Faith, and Union with God where I go more in depth and also provide additional prayers and activations for walking in peace and freedom.