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It’s quiet. Stillness envelops me like an early-morning fog coming from the nearby river. The darkness is soothing as I await daybreak to usher in the heat of the day.
These are my favorite mornings, the ones that greet me with serenity. Honestly, I wish there were more of them. It’s more than a still house. It’s a still soul, at peace in the presence of God. It’s the peace that “surpasses all understanding,” as St. Paul says. I wish I could remain in this place always.
So, why don’t I?
When Busyness Steals Our Peace
Many days and weeks are spent caught up in the busyness of life, its demands and pressures, and all the while my soul longs for interior peace. When I find my way back to the Lord’s presence, from which I have drifted, I give thanks, for His gift of peace is like no other.
It’s the peace that feels like a vacation from our hectic world, like the well-earned rest at the end of an uphill hike, where magnificent views await. It’s like standing near a river watching the waters move without restriction, or It’s like standing near a river, watching the waters move without restriction, or riding your bike downhill with cool air pushing against your skin. Peace is freedom.
If peace is freedom, and we all long to be free from the grip of worry, stress, and fear, how is it that I so often drift away from its source?
That’s easy to answer. Let me jot down a few things: I start thinking and worrying about what’s next—about all I have to do and everything on my list. How will this or that work out? When will such and such finally happen? Can I manage? Will I succeed? And, oh yes, what’s for dinner tonight?
Busyness is everywhere. It always has been, and it always will be. It simply looks different as we move through distinct periods of history and seasons of life. Most of us aren’t chopping wood, building homes, mending socks, or baking bread, unless, of course, you jumped on the sourdough bandwagon. My daughter did. And if you’re reading this, thank you!
So why has busyness gained the upper hand and stolen our peace?
Remembering What the Lord Has Said
How quickly I forget what the Lord has said.
He said his grace would be enough:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
He asked us to abide:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
He said he would establish the way:
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
So what’s my hang-up? Why are peace and rest so fleeting?
Meet Self-Sufficiency
Allow me to introduce you to someone I know all too well. She goes by the name of Self-Sufficiency.
To say I know her well is an understatement. She has been woven into my life for more decades than I care to remember. She is the can-do, get-it-done, stay-in-control persona who says, “I’ve got it. I don’t need help. I can do it alone.”
And eventually, the busyness buries her. Slowly at first, like snow loosening high in the mountains, and then all at once, like an avalanche gathering speed as it descends.
Why is that?
The Lie We Are Alone
Because she believes she cannot trust others to help. She believes she has to do it alone. And perhaps, even more deeply, she believes the lie that she is alone.
But we are never alone. Period. End of story. That is the truth!
God created us to be with him, and he desires to be with us.
“For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
Setting The Lord Before Us
I recently learned the Hebrew phrase Shiviti Adonai l’negdi tamid, from Psalm 16:8: “I have set the Lord always before me,” or “I keep my eyes always on the Lord.”
We are invited to live with awareness of the Divine Presence, placing the Lord before us in the ordinary moments of everyday life. And the rest of the verse tells us what happens when we do:
“Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:8)
In other words, we do not have to be ruled by whatever threatens our peace. This does not mean that life will always feel perfect or that we will never become overwhelmed. Life is hard. However, recognizing that the Lord is in our midst means we do not have to carry it all alone. When self-sufficiency begins whispering, “It all depends on you,” we can turn our gaze again toward the One who never leaves or forsakes us.
The Way Back To Peace
Peace is not something we manufacture through greater control. Nor is it something we claim when life is going the way we want. We receive peace, and learn to live within it when we remember who is in control and who holds us in the palm of His hand.
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5)
Perhaps this is how we return to peace: not by escaping the demands of our lives, but by placing them before the Lord as an offering and inviting him into the midst of our everyday lives.
The Lord is before me.
The Lord is beside me.
The Lord is with me.
And I am never alone.
