Cultivating Peace

Happy October Friends!

What better way to start off our month than by talking about cultivating a peaceful life, home, and heart? If you've been here a bit, I've been doing a monthly series talking about how we can live the fruitful lives we are called to live in Galatians 5:22-23. We've talked about love and joy, now we are talking about peace.

Peace is something we all need. I can't even keep count of how many people I encounter who talk about how they have anxiety, myself being one of those many people. The world is harsh, and in the age of information we all know about all the horrible, sad, devastating things going on in the world. Our burdens are heavy from the world and our burdens are heavy in our own personal lives. I was talking to a friend the other day and realized that there are so many people going through extremely difficult situations that they aren't talking about. So many people who are lacking peace, whether they have anxiety or not. We can all agree that these are not peaceful times.

But because the world isn't peaceful, does that mean we cannot live peacefully? If we are depending on the world and the things of the world to bring us peace, no, we will never have peace. However we have a sweet sweet promise in Scripture that tells us we can have peace no matter what is happening in the world. Actually there are multiple promises of peace in Scripture, but we are focusing only on one today.

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

This verse is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

God keeps us in perfect peace when our mind is fixed on HIM.

I am so guilty of constantly filling my mind with things. As a stay at home mom, I don't like silence during naptimes. I usually have a podcast on, a youtube video, or a show while I do chores. If it's not any of those, I'm listening to music or scrolling. I'm constantly distracting myself, really. That is what takes our peace, when we allow our eyes to move from the Father to the Fallen World.

When we keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, our trust in His goodness and faithfulness is amplified because that is all that we are focused on. When we are focused on the God who is in control, He fills us with His perfect and unwavering peace.

Figure skaters are brought to my mind. When a figure skater is up on her toes, spinning so quickly we don't understand how she can move that fast, her eyes are fixed on one spot so that she does not get dizzy. If she moves her eyes from that point of focus, she will start feeling dizzy, lose focus, and fall over. But as long as her eyes are transfixed on that one spot, she can finish her turns and continue with the rest of her routine.

The same goes for us. The moment we move our eyes off of Christ we get dizzy, overwhelmed, and topple over with the weight of the world. When our eyes are determinedly fixed on the cross, we can finish out are challenging moment and continue on with life.

Today, will you cultivate a peaceful life by keeping your eyes focused on Christ? Will you determine today to only seek Him, to only look for His goodness, faithfulness, love, and control over this world? If you do, a perfect peace is sure to follow.