Powerful and Practical Ways Your Anxious or Troubled Heart Can Find Peace
“You will keep in perfect peace, all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
”
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
- John 14:26-27 (NLT).
I just messaged a friend “…the Lord is resuscitating my chaotic heart today.”
Let me tell you what’s going on.
Yesterday morning I woke up semi-panicking.
It looks like our move from snowy NY to the sunshine state filled with (potential) alligator attacks and oranges is actually happening. Side note, the texture of oranges terrifies me more than alligator sightings. Yuck, oranges are like stringy-squish-blobs.
Okay, back to the details.
Our house is on the market and this dream from years ago is moving forward - Yay God!! We’re the scared kind of excited but feels like this is totally a God thing.
It’s one thing to dream, it’s another to actually have that dream begin to turn into reality…. It’s uncomfortable, risky, unknown.
I began to pray searching for the uncomfortableness to go away. Then I began to play the “what-if” game.
You know the one…
“Lord, what if we move 16 hours away and I become the smelly kid because this place morphs me into a sweat monster.”
“What if we move and it hurts our kids.”
“What if ___fill in whatever WHAT IF you’ve been sayin___”
In the middle of my chaotic chit-chat, I paused.
There in my soul-squirm, the Lord dropped this beautiful reminder into my mind…
“Perfect peace isn’t a posture of a physical positioning, but a spiritual one.”
Perfect peace comes from the guaranteed presence of God, even when your physical positioning feels uncomfortable, chaotic or unsettling.
We can be uncomfortable but still feel settled.
Christ’s perfect peace doesn’t ride on physical circumstances…
It’s just who He is.
It’s a gift that you can’t buy with your dolla-dolla bills, y’all…
Christ already paid for it.
I love a good gut-punch, conviction from Holy Spirit!
***
As Believers, we keep perfect peace by focusing our minds on Him.
Not the what-ifs, or anxiety of what is. Our peace isn’t produced in the physical but in the spiritual.
We shouldn’t focus on made-up mysteries in our minds, but fix our minds to Christ.
The things we can do in the practical, impact the supernatural.
Take time to turn on worship music
Open the Bible and dig in
Reach out to a friend from church and ask for prayer
Practice Christian meditation by filling your mind and thinking about God’s character
Go for a walk in silence
***
The peace those two verses from above are talking about is beyond anything the world can provide. His peace outshines our inner turmoil.
Think of it like this.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) keeps blood and oxygen flowing when someone’s heart and breathing have stopped. It’s an emergency procedure that manually preserves intact brain function.
So when you feel like you’ve lost control, are broken-hearted or your mind won’t stop spinning…
Remember, Jesus gives us the breath of life.
He resuscitates us and has the power to preserve our brain function with His peace.
If you’re feeling out of sorts today, maybe this reminder is for you too!
Look to Christ, His peace overflows.
Take a few minutes and ask Holy Spirit to show you if there are any areas in your life that are lacking perfect peace.
Lord, we thank you for providing us with your perfect peace! Take a 30-second praise break and thank God for who He is and the gift He has given us.
God is at work all around us (and in us), don't miss it!
written by Jenny Randle
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