In Search of Peace?

Lately, my daughter has been having fun with clip art on the computer. She loves to browse through the pictures and copy them into MS Word to make her own creations.

The other day, when I went upstairs to our office, I found one of her pieces of “artwork†on the desk—a collage of beautiful outdoor scenes…cherry blossoms, daisies, and dandelions.

At the bottom of the paper, she’d titled her work: “Peaceful Placesâ€

I smiled at the thought of her hunting through images to find ones that bring a feeling of peace. And I loved the ones she chose. Looking at them really did make me feel calm.

It also made me realize how–young or old, child or adult–we all search for peace.

Maybe some of us look for it outdoors, walking along a bike path or hiking in the mountains. Maybe some of us look for it near the ocean, lying on the beach with our eyes closed, the sound of waves in the background. Or maybe we look for it in a sunny corner of our house, sitting and reading a good book.

Yet, as peaceful as those places may be, and as serene as we may feel when in them, the peace that God offers is even better.

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said,

“Come to me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.â€

But to find that peace and rest, we need to turn to Him. And sometimes that’s easier said than done.

Like the times we’re so stressed that we don’t have the motivation to pray. Or the times things aren’t going our way, and we don’t exactly feel close to God.

Yet those are the times we need to turn to Him the most.

Believe me, I’ve had many days where I’ve felt stressed and distracted, and I’ve had to be honest with God about it. Those are the days my prayers start off something like this, “God, You know where I’m at. You know I’m discouraged…â€

But guess what?

He can handle our honesty. He knows how we feel, anyway. And even in our most distracted or worried moments, He can meet us where we are and wash over us with that…

“peace that surpasses all understanding†(Philippians 4:7)

Does that mean everything gets instantly fixed? Of course not. But it does mean that you can go through any situation with hope in your heart. And that hope creates a peace that simply can’t be explained through words.

So if your life is really busy right now, or if you’re feeling discouraged and far from God, don’t wait for the perfect time to talk to Him. Don’t feel like you have to schedule it in, or hold off until your mood is brighter. Just take a minute–even a few seconds–and ask Him for His peace.

Because the peace He offers is the best kind that there is.