Attaining Peace

Peace doesn't come as quiet as it seems.

1,2,3... we count and breathe day in and day out in the hope to establish a sense of peace. We purchase plane tickets and force ourselves into absolute stillness believing that it's the price we pay to receive a moment, an hour, or a brief second of it. Peace is one of the most valuable and significant things we seek in the world right now. In this world that seems to be holding onto a thinner line of string by the day, it is the high commodity.

Peace looks different for everyone and is accessible to everyone nonetheless, why does it seem to be unattainable? Why does it seem out of reach or impossible? When did it become the equilibrium of an escape? Peace has become a state of being so unattainable to this world that it is called an escape. Or it has become a posture of absolute ignorance to the things that surround us.

Today, can I offer the alternative idea or perspective that peace isn't something you wait for or something to pass by in hopes that you can catch but it is something that you access. We have mislabeled it and misinterpreted what it is. Peace isn't us running away from our problems or becoming ignorant of the problems that surround us. Peace is silencing the voices, silencing the doubt, the lies, and reining over them instead of them reigning over us. Peace is understanding that you don't have to fight or argue with the persecution of doubt, lies, and anxiety, it's understanding that you don't need to be submerged by them. Peace is understanding that you can dominate and trample on the head of the enemy, and accessing that kind of peace pleases the Creator.

Time and time we read in the Word of God to seek and pursue peace but, very few establish it within their lives, and I'm guilty of not doing so myself.

Imagine this. You've been desiring to own your very luxurious vacation villa where you can go whenever you want to enjoy yourself with friends and family. Then one day you're been gifted keys to your very own villa with all the most luxurious of amenities and it is all you've ever asked for. But as soon as you received the gift box with the keys for your villa inside, you placed it down on the table without one bit of effort to open it. And the keys to your luxurious villa are sitting within that gift box day after day. Months pass and you don't bother to open the gift to access the keys to your villa. All the while your villa sits there, waiting for you... Imagine that villa being your peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. - John 14:27

So many times we ask for peace. Peace in our family, peace in our jobs, and peace in our minds. What if what you've been asking for has been made available to you? The only thing is that you have not accessed it with your authority. Why are we allowing the enemy to take it? To cloud us from seeing it or shutting our mouths to access it?

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. - Luke 10:19

Accessing Peace is accessing your authority!

When you look into the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark, I can't help but notice that to calm the storm Jesus REBUKED!! The storm was big, loud, furious ( much like the ones we go through in our lives with our jobs, families, and minds), and Jesus rebuked it just as powerfully with exclamation marks, meaning it was expressive and authoritative. He spoke out loudly: "Peace! Be Still!"

So, why are we softly speaking to the wind and the waves of life, letting them dominate us instead of accessing our authority, which we have been gifted?

Instead, we worry and lack faith like the disciples in the boat letting the storm of life submerge us? I believe that Jesus, who lives within us, wants us to access our authority to access our peace. He wants us to speak out and call out the enemy. You should stop Him and his tactics to disrupt your peace. If the enemy is so loud with his attacks why can't you be just as loud back?

I believe it's your turn to yell back in authority: PEACE, BE STILL!

Access your Peace. I want to challenge you this week to speak those three words ... Speak it over whatever it is that is stealing your joy and peace. Speak it when you can't sleep, speak it when you are overwhelmed, speak it in the loudest moments, and speak it in the silent ones, in a room full of people, or a room with just you. Speak... PEACE BE STILL!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I thank you for being my hiding place, my refuge, my comforter, and my Prince of Peace. I pray that you give me strength amid the chaos. Help me recognize the authority that you have given me. Lead me in accessing it in my daily living. Guide me in the courage and confidence to do so. Jesus, I thank you for making it accessible to me. May the peace that surpasses understanding surround me; that I find it at any moment throughout this week and the days to come. Remind me of your word and the promises that you keep. Thank you for the peace that you keep. For the peace that you are. In your mighty and reckless name, Jesus, Amen.