Title: Maintain Inner Peace (Peace)
Contents
You will keep in peace those whose hearts are steadfast, for they trust in you (Isaiah 26:3).
A few years ago, a research institute asked what husbands were most interested in and what they most wanted their wives to understand. As a result, it turned out to be a surprising fact, that men wanted the comfort of home without talking about expensive cars, study rooms, or good things. They wanted 'peace'.
In the recorded 3,530 years of history, there have been only 286 years of no war anywhere on Earth, and 8,000 peace treaties have been signed in between. But of this peace, he said, "Peace is a brief shining moment in history when everyone is ready to fight again.
We are now living in the most technologically advanced era in history. There are tons of devices that make life easy and comfortable. However, such high-level equipment is rather disturbing the peace.
“We are obsessed with speed,” said therapist Operchure of USA Today. After all, we are caught up in countless plans that cannot be executed and tight schedules that cannot be kept. Paradoxically, we were deprived of our free time by being tied to time-saving equipment.”
The workplace is an incubator in which stress is nurtured and nourished. The Home and Work Research Institute surveyed 3,000 people over five years with the question “How was your work today?” As a result, 88% answered “It was very difficult”, 68% “The day went by too quickly”, 60% “I haven’t finished my work yet”, and 71% “I am exhausted”, making them more tired and anxious than 5 years ago. and concluded that there is a division between work and home.
The word stress comes from the Latin strictus, which means 'to be dragged on' with a sense of pain. As stress increases, peace is lost.
The Bible speaks of three kinds of peace. 1) “As far as possible, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18) is outward peace and peace with others. 2) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (Colossians 3:15)” refers to inner peace and peace with oneself. 3) “Let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1) is peace with God as eternal peace.
Today, people seek peace in drugs, pleasures, and possessions, but they only offer fake peace that fades away. The millionaire athlete sat quietly and confessed after experiencing a good job, salary, great home, family, health and team victory. “If this were all, life would be too futile.”
While many focus on the situation, causing constant worry and loss of peace, Lincoln was fearless and unshaken even in the most difficult moments of the Civil War. Peace is a matter of focus, and Lincoln was able to enjoy peace because he was focused on God.
Worry is to distrust God's wisdom, and to deny God's Word. According to the New Standard Version of the Bible, “Cast all your worries on God. God is looking after you (1 Peter 5:7).” If you trust and entrust it, you don't have to worry and you can enjoy peace.
In the middle of the typhoon is the calm ‘eye of the typhoon’. Rain and wind and gusts of wind blow all around, but there is a calmness like a lake in the middle. Those who trust and focus on God can enjoy peace in any situation.
Horatio Spafford, a devout believer, made a fortune from a real estate transaction, but lost his business and his only son in the Great Chicago Fire. His wife, in shock, sent four daughters on a boat to her home country of England, but lost all of them in a storm and sent a telegram to her husband saying, “I am the only one left.” He asked the captain to show him where he lost his daughter while he was traveling across the Atlantic Ocean with his wife to America. When Spafford arrived there, a deck poem became our hymn.
My life's path is smooth and always like a calm river
No matter how scary or difficult it is due to a big storm, my soul is always at ease.
Peace to my soul, my soul, my soul, to peace. (Hymns 470)
If you focus on Almighty God, peace is always yours.
Application: Focus on God rather than the situation and trust.