The Comfort of Peace: How to Have Peace When the World Around You is Crazy and Chaotic.
The Comfort of Peace: How to Have Peace When the World Around You is Crazy and Chaotic.
As believers, one thing we must keep in the forefront of our minds is the fact that God is still in charge.
Hey Fam!
Welcome to the 35th issue of The Aim and Soar Life, a weekly Christian personal growth and lifestyle newsletter that provides actionable, relatable, biblically rooted content to help you live abundantly and GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
I stopped watching the news years ago when I was in my thirties. I came to the conclusion that the daily news, with all its stories of robberies, murders, and dismal economic forecasts, just didn’t gel with my goal of reducing anxiety and maintaining my mental health.
It is difficult to not get sucked into bad news. Most news networks focus on what’s wrong with the world (because there is a lot wrong), and there are very few stories of triumph and hope.
In our world today, times look bleak. It doesn’t matter if so-called experts can’t agree about whether we are in a recession or not.
The truth is: companies are scaling back and laying off workers, rent rates are too high, and people can’t afford to buy homes. Some are finding it increasingly difficult to feed their families due to inflation, and the political climate is rife with hate and violence.
It’s enough to cause even the most devout believer anxiety and depression.
How can anyone have peace when the world around them is crazy and chaotic like it is right now?
God has shown us the way, and we must keep His way in the forefront of our minds and meditate on His Word.
Remember the following:
God is Still in Charge
As believers, one thing we must keep in the forefront of our minds is the fact that God is still in charge. It may seem like the world has run amuck—and it has, but God is ultimately still at the helm. It’s like the song my granny taught me when I was little, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”
If you focus too much on the terrible state of our world today, it is easy to become frustrated with God and wonder why He isn’t doing anything.
It’s hard to watch television and witness the amount of lawlessness and wickedness that is occurring every day.
It crushes my heart when someone has hurt an innocent child, or a woman is killed in a domestic violence situation.
These are the perfect times to stand on God’s Word. We have to use our “faith vision” to see that things would be much worse (heaven forbid) if God wasn’t present, limiting evil and wickedness in this world.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10, NIV
In Psalm 46, God reminds his people and their enemies that He will be exalted before the nations. The implication for us today is that it is futile to strive against God. The enemies of God will not prevail. Believers should rest in the fact that God is our refuge. We can rest in the knowledge that He is LORD over ALL. Everything. Period.
You can have the comfort of peace by reminding yourself that “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”
God is Protecting You
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I worry about my son, who is just shy of 27. I have been known to frustrate him with repeated calls and texts when I don’t hear from him. There is so much violence in the world that I allow myself to get caught up, especially when I know he is going to a concert or event.
I’ve heard about tragedies occurring at large gatherings of young people, and I become overwhelmed with thoughts that something might happen to him. I have to remind myself that God is protecting him and me.
Even when our children or grandchildren are unbelievers, God answers our prayers for their protection, based on our relationship with Him.
I also worry about things that I feel affect me most, like the country’s financial outlook. I don’t like the daily news, but I love financial news. I’m a low-key stock geek. I love learning about investments and financial literacy.
Lately, however, the financial forecasts have been dismal. Experts remind us every day that no matter how much we’ve saved, we probably won’t have enough for retirement (yikes! Eye roll), the market is down, and we may or may not be in a recession.
I plan to retire in a few years, and I can let this kind of news wear on me if I’m not careful. Then I remember that God has always protected me financially, even in lean times and losses (and I’ve had some huge losses). I have never been homeless. I have never been hungry. I’ve always had enough.
If you are reading this and saying, “Well, Sherrhonda, I have been in some of those predicaments,” know that God has always protected you as well.
When you look back on so-called hard times, you can always see where God was in the picture, assisting you. Whether it was through a friend, church member, organization, or employer, God was there supporting and protecting you.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.
Psalm 34:7-9, NIV
God Has a Plan for You
If you have been following this blog/newsletter (I hope you have😍) you know that I’ve said this before, and it’s worth stating again. God has a plan for your life!
I think in our humanness, we tend to forget. It can feel like we are just spinning our wheels or navigating this side of heaven haphazardly. But this is not true. We can find peace and comfort in the truth that the steps of the righteous are ordered by God.
Nothing in your life has or will ever take Him by surprise.
The steps of a good man are [a]ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
Psalm 37:23-25, NKJV
Therefore, if you find yourself in a difficult situation, you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is there with you. He goes before us.
When it feels crazy and chaotic and you don’t quite understand what’s happening, stay tuned to the God channel, which is the Holy Spirit. He will guide you in your prayer and decision-making.
You don’t have to feel that you are out on a limb by yourself. You have a Father that is carving out your life for you. He has already planned your way.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV
You only need to lean into His plan with your whole heart. Trust that He knows what He is doing. Pray and ask Him to increase your faith, as you face challenges. This is my constant prayer.
Being a teacher of the Word does not excuse me from being human. I experience fear, feelings of failure, and despair.
I am learning to make myself “snap out of it,” go to His Word, and meet Him in prayer so that He can fill me with the confidence and courage I need to brave the storms of my life.
He Will Sustain You
When you feel like you are at your wit’s end and there is no relief in sight, that is the perfect time to cry out to the Lord.
These are the times for fervent prayer, daily doses of the Word, and continual meditation on the Word.
When the going gets tough, the tough must go to the fountain that sustains us. We can’t do this alone. We need God’s strength.
I’m reminded of little children when they become independent and want to do everything themselves. My mom jokes with me that my favorite line when I was a child was, “I do it myself,” even when there were situations that required help from her. This attitude is expected from a small child, it’s part of the natural stage of child development.
It’s not okay for believers, however. We cannot adopt the “I do it myself” mentality. We don’t have the strength or wherewithal.
We cannot operate outside of the vine that is Christ. We need His sustenance to endure.
I imagine myself in a desert (the world) and Jesus is standing at a well with a ladle full of cool water in hand, gently tilting the water in my mouth, allowing me to quench my thirst.
This is how it must be. Sometimes my prayer is simply, “Lord, I need you!” At other times, my tears are my only prayer offering.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Psalm 34:17-18, NKJV
God must be your sustenance.
No money, person, job, or any other thing can satisfy and sustain you during these crazy times. Your peace must be in God.
He Has Already Given You His Peace
Most of us like to receive gifts—at least I do. 😍 But a gift has to be received.
Jesus has given us the gift of His peace. We’ve got to receive it.
Not doing so is like getting a bunch of Christmas presents and leaving them unopened. Imagine you need new slippers, and they are sitting in an unopened gift box. Imagine you need money and it’s sitting in an unopened envelope, just waiting for you.
This is how it is when we don’t receive the peace of Christ. It’s available to us.
When we focus on the world around us, as crazy and chaotic as it is, we are bound to feel unstable, fearful, and overwhelmed.
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27, NKJV
The peace of God is at our disposal. It is there for us to lean into. It is there to give us a firm footing. God is the God of all comfort.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
When others see you taking comfort in God, resting in His peace, it will be a marvelous witness of who God is. The comfort of peace is available to all, we only need to receive it!
God Bless You!
Until Next Time,
GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Sherrhonda😍
P.S.
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