Peace That Remains During Hard Times

The spiritual component of peace is a tool God has given us to cope with the stuff in our lives. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 (NKJV) The peace that God gives is different from the peace of the world. The world only gives peace when life is good and we have everything we want. God’s peace is different; it’s a peace that passes all understanding and transcends the daily grind of life, so that no matter what stuff we are going through, we can have peace. Peace is found in contentment. We will never be content when we are looking to be filled by the things of the world, but when we are filled with God, He will be more than enough for us. 

We can be content with whatever God has given us.

But how can we have peace when our lives are not peaceful and everything around us is in chaos? Isaiah said, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV) One tool God has given us to maintain peace in stressful situations is to keep our minds stayed on Him. With all the stuff that goes on in our lives, we can easily lose focus on God and lose the peace He has for us. In the times when we lack peace, we need to take our minds off of ourselves and what the enemy is doing and set our minds on God, on what He has done in our lives, and on what He can do in our present situation. 

As it says in Colossians, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2 (NKJV) God has promised to give us peace, but we have to look for His kind of peace. Because God’s peace is “not as the world gives”, it is important to define the world’s peace in contrast to God’s. The peace that the world gives is only present when life is going well. 

The peace God gives us is a peace that remains even during hard times.

God’s peace can remain always because it is not founded in this life being good; it is established in the goodness of God and in contentment with Him. We can have peace when we are facing the stuff of life because our focus is not on being happy — we should focus on God who is greater than our situations. When we remain in Christ and let Him be our fulfillment, we can have the peace that enables us to overcome stuff.

As I look back on my life, I can see places where I looked for fulfillment in the wrong places. I was looking to friends and abilities to give me the fulfillment only God can give. When I stopped looking for my friends to meet my emotional needs, I found fulfillment in God’s design for me. As I found my fulfillment in God, I was able to overcome the emotional stuff I dealt with throughout my college experience. God wants us to praise Him even in the middle of our brokenness. That was the key to contentment that I was missing: God is the Creator of contentment who gives us peace when we praise Him and put Him first.