I Choose PeaceSample

You Have Peace

Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a small fishing boat one day when a violent storm came up. Waves crashed over the boat. The disciples were terrified. They awoke Jesus, who had been sleeping peacefully in the stern, and demanded, “Don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38). Jesus got up and calmed the storm. Then He asked them why they had been afraid. In circumstances that would make most people panic, Jesus had astonishing, supernatural peace.

You do too. Jesus gave His peace to His followers the night before His crucifixion. Peace is part of the package you receive when you enter into a relationship with God in Christ.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27) 

It's easy to quench God’s peace, by worrying, focusing on the future, and getting into conflict with other people.

People tend to search for peace from one of three sources. We may look inward, trying to access peace from a source that depends on ourselves and isn’t reliable. 

Or we look outward, thinking that if we achieve, conquer and perform, our desires and circumstances will align and we’ll have the peace we’re looking for. 

The dependable approach, the one that grounds us in biblical truth is to look upward. Peace is a Person, not a condition (Ephesians 2:14). When we trust in Jesus, depend on Him, and abide in Him, we cultivate faith, love and obedience to His ways and that brings His peace—His shalom—which is a rich, full expression of God’s will for us in every situation we face. 

But you have to choose it. You have to train your heart and mind to receive it by faith. That doesn’t mean everything will always work out just the way we want it to. It does mean, however, that we can live our lives as followers of Christ experiencing supernatural peace, whether our days are calm or stormy.