And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Phillippians 4:7

We all desire peace. The inner contentment that leaves us feeling free from burden and worries. Christ offers us this peace, through times of trials and times of joy, yet even Christians sometimes miss out on this life sustaining gift. What is holding you back from receiving peace. I’d like to offer some suggestions.

1. You say you are a Christian but do not have a personal relationship with Christ. If you only have a relationship from a distance, and only say hello once in a while, you are missing out. A relationship with Christ is having fellowship, sharing the intimate parts of your life with a God who cares. Praying, reading your bible, etc. is intricate to building a relationship. It is like anything in life; if you want to experience it fully, you have to invest the time and energy.
2. You know God’s moral principles, but are trying to follow them in your own strength. This will leave you feeling defeated. “Apart from God we can do nothing”. We need to rely on Him for our daily bread, our daily source of strength.
3. You are a Christian, yet living with worldly baggage. Living a life of sin. This will drag you down. Romans 6:16
4. You are trying to live life alone, using the “do it yourself” mentality. Rather than seeing our brothers and sisters in Christ as encouragement, they are viewed as another chore. When this takes plays our desire for fellowship is not fulfilled, and we can be overwhelmed. Heb 10:25
5. You fail to admit that you aren’t perfect. However, none of us but God carry this title, so trying to present to the world that you are creates this burden of false representation. We should definitely try to please God and do the right thing, but when we mess up, we need to apologize and move on.
6. You have let the worries of the world get the best of you. Your trials and struggles start to cloud your vision of God’s goodness. When we stop believing God at His word and start hardening our hearts, peace will leave us.

All these qualities will leave us feeling helpless and abandoned. We will not show the world the freedom that is in Christ, if we do not feel the peace ourselves. We can’t truly feel God’s peace unless we trust Him with our whole life, believe Him at His word, and start living out the truth.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

I have the right to do anything,” you say–but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”–but not everything is constructive.

1 Corinthians 10:23

We don’t have to struggle through the daily grind alone. We are not alone. It is time for us to truly experience the peace that Christ offers, and share that freedom with others.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish,
sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints,
so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you.”

© 1984 Mary Stevenson