I love to have visual and audio pieces when I’m studying or meditating. It helps me to picture and feel what I’m experiencing. Yesterday in my church’s worship time, we sang the song Perfect Peace by Joe Zichterman (on YouTube), and the first line of the song got my attention (See the text under the video in this link for the full lyrics of this song.).
“When life’s burdens get so heavy and it seems I’m all alone…“
Isn’t that what eats away at the peace we want? You bet! The things of life weigh us down. People desert us whether by death, distance, or a number of other ways.
The Fall scenes outside your window are full of vibrant yellows, oranges, reds, and even browns that paint a beautiful picture of God’s creation. But all too soon those colors turn to drab browns that are dull, boring, and cause us to feel down, for some because they know Winter is coming.
In Spring things start turning green, flowers bloom, and sunshine warms us after the cold dark days of Winter. We feel refreshed and renewed, for some because they look forward to swimming, picnics and other Summer activities.
Peace according to the dictionary has several aspects to it, to name a few:
- freedom from disturbance; tranquility
- A mom of busy young children might say, “Just give me a few minutes of peace and quiet.”
- freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
- A dad with a major decision to make might say, “I don’t have peace about this.”
- harmony in personal relations
- A teenager might say, “I wish my parents could get along and be at peace.”
To have peace as our own, though, we need to dig deeper and look at where that peace comes from and how we can get it. I won’t be covering it all in this post, so please come back and keep reading.
Here are two word pictures for you. How do you feel looking at each one?
(Above two photos from Pixabay free stock photos)
Does your life look and feel more like the desk in the first one or the clean orderly room in the second one? Keep searching and do some housecleaning. That’s a good start to finding peace in your life.
“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”
Proverbs 4:23, GNT