Real Hope: PeaceSample

Peace - Asleep in the Storm

Where do you find peace? A walk in the bush? On a bike ride? Reading? Worship? On the water? Time with your pet? A friend recently tried to convince me he finds peace when he runs… this one I’m not so sure about. Here’s another question for you: is peace something you find, something you experience, something we are called to cultivate within ourselves… or perhaps even all the above?

Galatians 5:22 (AMP) tells us "The fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness…" etc.

Through this season, I’m learning that peace is an internal state that may manifest in my external world – and even if my external world remains in a state of chaos, that does not need to determine my internal world.

Consider Jesus in Mark 4:35–41 (NLT) "… a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with His head on a cushion… ". He knew His source of peace, He knew whose He was, and He knew the authority He carried as a child of God. This supernatural ‘asleep in the storm’ type of peace won’t always change your external world. It will, however, give you the internal strength to lay down and sleep, to rest, trusting the LORD. And it will see you through the rough seas you’re in.

So, consider again today, where does your peace come from?

Written by NATALIE BENNETT