We are all searching for lasting peace in a world that is anything but peaceful. Finding peace for our souls means doing some things:
Step ONE begins when we call out to God, “free me from my troubles!” In that cry is our acknowledgement that He alone can provide us with peace. [Psalm 4]
Step TWO is to worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness, His presence! It is disciplining our hearts to seek Him in His sanctuary, to consistently come before His presence. In the presence of the Prince of Peace, all unrest must cease. [Psalm 29]
Step THREE is a bit tougher because it means listening to what God has to say, surrendering to His will for our lives and not returning to our foolish ways. [Psalm 85]
There is a fourth step, and in that step we find the way to a peace that is not short lived, but is instead a lasting peace. Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” [NLT]
God will keep us in perfect peace when we stay focused and dedicated to Him.
I had a family member who was often very distressed and angry because of where she perceived her life. She would call and ask me to “pray for . . .” and then begins a long list of demands she wanted God to do. I would pray with her and talk to her, and she got a “temporary peace” from that, but it never lasted. It never lasted because she had never been able to keep her mind steadfast on God, it always returned to herself. She was never able to relinquish control of her life to Him.
God’s promise of peace, lasting, permanent peace, comes when we anchor our minds, our hearts, our attitudes in the Rock eternal. As long as our hearts and minds keep uprooting themselves from Him and returning to our own will and self-centered desires, peace will be a temporary, elusive condition. Permanent peace means anchoring in the Rock Eternal.
