My peace disappears when I take my eyes off of God's goodness and promises and start to focus on what I don't have and what I can't do. This starts a destructive spiral until I ask God for forgiveness and repent of my disobedience. Then He is faithful to forgive and restore me based on His goodness and mercies.
Yet, I don't think I'm the only one who struggles in this area . . .
"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." - Romans 7:15
The same person who wrote the words above also wrote the words below.
"Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in Him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." - 2nd Corinthians 1: 17 - 22
This is such a cool peel-back-the-layers letter describing in detail how Paul places his faith in God's goodness and promises, despite how he personally feels about his situation. This doesn't mean that he always did what was right. (See Romans 7:15 for further clarification) But Paul explains that when he makes his plans, asking God what He wants him to do, God validates those decisions with His peace.
And then Paul goes deeper about the reasons why he relies on God when making decisions. "For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him." He is showing us the foundation of his beliefs, the reason for his hope despite all his earthly trials. Because, " . . . all the promises of God find their Yes in Him." And who is Him? Jesus Christ of course! He goes on, ". . . it is God who establishes us with you in Christ . . . who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." Did you catch that? Who gives us His Spirit in our hearts? God Himself! And fear cannot exist in the same residence with God's Spirit. (1 John 4:18)
So to have peace in my life I need to understand the origins of that peace and then guard it carefully to make sure that is is not poisoned by my disobedience or lack of faith. It really is more about my internal thought life then my external situations. That is why Paul explained in the verses above that he made his decisions based on what God (the source of all wisdom) wanted for his life versus his flesh which never wants what God wishes for our good. When peace is missing in your life I encourage you to remember who put it their in the first place. The one who gives it freely is also the one who says "Yes" to all His promises!
