Presented by Lisa Bishop

Life will not always go the way you planned and there will be many times your peace can be disrupted, even rocked. So I want to spend some time anchoring us in God’s Word because frankly, we all need reminders of truth to keep us grounded when times are rough.

It is easy to feel peace when everything (or at least most things) in life are going well, but let’s be honest. When you hit bumps in the road, when disappointments, delays or losses strike, holding onto peace, well it can feel like it’s slipping through your hands.

A good friend of mine called me the other day to let me know her husband was let go from his job. They have two kids, no savings, they had just paid off their debt, and boom. Out of seemingly nowhere their only source of income was stripped away. Food stamps, frugality, and freezing all unnecessary purchases would soon become their reality. The circumstances certainly called for panic, but my friend was determined to hold onto her peace.

When is a time where your peace was threatened? A sudden job loss, a conflict in a relationship, financial strain, your reputation being called into question. Maybe you are currently experiencing anxiety, nervousness, fear of the future, or inner turbulence over circumstances in your life. A lack of peace can feel intrusive. Ruminative thought patterns, racing heartbeat, intense feelings of uncertainty, worry, depression—that heaviness that just sits on your chest like a ton of bricks.

We have all felt peace lacking in our lives, so what do you do when the inevitable pervasive peacelessness happens? How do you prepare for seasons that threaten to throw you off kilter and into a sea of unsettledness? The Bible is filled with verses that instruct us about peace. Various forms of the word peace are found 429 times in the King James version of the Bible so it must be an important thing for you to grasp, or better yet for peace to get a hold of you.

Yet why does peace seem so evasive? I think one reason is because we can tend to intellectualize peace rather than receive the peace that is ours in Jesus and by the power of his Holy Spirit. We read the 400+ verses of peace in the Bible but it just sounds like a nice benefit of following Jesus and we don’t receive it as a birthright.

If we are honest, we can think that peace is something we muster up or need to strive for rather than settle into, and our self-effort disappoints over the long haul. I am not saying that we do not have to work hard to experience peace, we do. We need to be intentional about believing what God’s Word says about peace, believe that Jesus and Holy Spirit are our peace, and make an effort to live into what is already given us. But too often we resort to human striving to create peace rather than the supernatural receiving of it.

You know the saying, “When life gives you lemons…. Make lemonade.”

It is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune. Lemons being analogous to the sourness or difficulty in life and making lemonade meaning turning them into something positive or desirable. While the concept is not a bad one, and it is important to have a positive perspective, real lasting peace has more depth, sustainability and stability when we find it first and foremost in the person of Jesus Christ.

In John 14:25-27 after three years of earthly ministry, Jesus, as he prepares his disciples for his physical departure from earth says to them, “All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 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.”

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We have been exploring what God’s Word has to say about peace and another aspect of peace is the peace of obedience.

Proverbs 3:1-2 says, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.”

King Solomon’s words of wisdom are a discerning guide for us to follow in our own lives. When Solomon says “my teaching” and “my commandments” he is not talking about his own personal decrees. He is pointing to God’s Word that he made personal by following. And remembering God’s laws are more than a mental exercise; it is connected to a life of obedience, internalizing them and living them out daily.

When you walk in step with God’s Word you will experience union with him, and this obedience adds peace to your life. Sometimes we can be tempted to look at God’s Word as a burden or list of “to do’s” but that is not the sentiment. God’s Word is not a list of rules; they are an invitation to an intimate relationship with Jesus. Jesus came so that you would have a rich and satisfying life and this can only be found in him. When you abide in Jesus and obey God’s Word you will be as Psalm 1 says like a tree planted by streams of living water bearing fruit in your life.

A lack of obedience in your life, sin, leads to death. It looks tempting at the time but as proverbs 14:12 says, “You can rationalize it all you want and justify the path of error you have chosen, but you’ll find out in the end that you took the road to destruction.”

We’ve all been there. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And praise God for Jesus who covers our sin and for His Holy Spirit that leads us (Psalm 143:10).

Psalm 32 gives us a glimpse into the power of confession as King David prays to the Lord. The Psalm itself does not tell us the specific occasion in David’s life which prompted this song but from his words we can surmise that he had strayed from obeying God when he says, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.' And you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:3-5).

Sin robs your peace; confession restores it as you receive the forgiveness of Jesus. Shame will never transform you, the love of Jesus will. Obedience leads to peace.

As we wrap up today receive this blessing from 2 Thessalonians 3:16. “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way.”

I once read a quote that said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In that response lies our growth and our freedom.”

You may be wondering what peace has to do with pausing. Well let me ask you this. How many times have you given your peace away or broken peace by being reactive? Something happens or someone says something that you do not like or agree with, and you fire back in a not so calm and peaceful way. You shoot an arrow or throw a grenade with your words.

I see a lot of this on social media platforms. It’s embarrassing really. Especially between people who say they love and follow Jesus. What a terrible witness we give to the world when we cannot even get along with each other. Unity amongst believers matters to God. And that does not mean we will always agree with each other on everything, but it does mean instead of letting our fangs come out in the heat of moments we steward our words and actions to bear the spiritual fruit of peace.

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3). In his letter to the Ephesians Paul is calling believers up to a higher standard when disagreements surface.

Romans 12:17-18 admonishes, “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”

Do all you can. This will take humility and Holy restraint! But you have it in you fellow believer. Better yet, you have him in you who is greater than your rapid fire words of retribution. Galatians 5:16 reminds us of this, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”

So, bite your tongue and usher in the presence of Jesus. Practice the pause and make the choice to tap into your source of peace, the Holy Spirit, who will guide you to speak in the tongues of angels, divine love, and not in destructive words like a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. We can respond thoughtfully and passionately disagree without being hateful. The world is watching how we treat one another. Show them who you believe in by the way you love. Before your lips leap, practice a holy pause.

And from the very mouth of Jesus, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34a-35).

Are you a peace-filled person? When you enter a room do you bring a sense of peace?

The Holy Spirit can often be the most neglected part of the Trinity. Many churches don’t acknowledge the Holy Spirit or his power in our lives and there are many Christians that have few if any real encounters with him.

Jesus signaled the significance of the Holy Spirit as he was preparing the disciples for his departure from earth. As the book of John recounts in chapter 14:15-17, Jesus told his disciples, “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

Jesus wanted them to know—he wants you to know—that he is with you always because his Holy Spirit dwells in you. And that the Holy Spirit amongst many things acts as your Advocate. Other versions of the Bible say, your Counselor, which translated from the Greek word paraklētos means, “Called to one’s side; helper; aider.” Jesus says that the Holy Spirit was destined to take his place after his ascension to the Father, to lead the disciples to a deeper knowledge of the Gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom (Strong’s Bible Concordance).

This matters to you because as a follower of Jesus the Holy Spirit is your counselor and you have been given that same divine presence, peace, and power.

When we think of the Holy Spirit our minds often picture a dove which has become a symbol of peace. The Holy Spirit, pictured as a dove at Jesus’ baptism, symbolized peace with God (Matthew 3:16).

In John 20:21-22, Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

As you abide in Christ, the Holy Spirit produces peace in your life. Peace is the byproduct of walking and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Peace resides in you, and you have full access at all times. And, as you carry the Holy Spirit with you and acknowledge his presence, any time you enter a room, you change the atmosphere. His presence in you has the power to impact those around you.

The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in the life of a believer. Don’t settle for a life that lacks peace and divine power. Ask God to awaken and increase your sensitivity to the divine power of his presence, his Holy Spirit within you.

Have you ever felt like you just don’t belong—like an outsider, overlooked, dismissed or maybe even abandoned?

The other day I was at church. After the service I saw a friend of mine I had not seen in several weeks. We caught each other's gaze and started up a conversation when within seconds someone else came by and my friend turned to them, mid-sentence mind you, and started to chat them up. I thought for sure it would be a brief hello and then she would circle back to me, but minutes passed by as I stood there and it was clear that her conversation would not be ending anytime soon.

First, I will admit that one of my pet peeves is when people do not pay attention to the person in front of them. It bugs me when people are easily distracted and clearly not present. But the situation this particular morning went deeper for me because instead of chalking up the encounter as no big deal and moving on, my mind started to wander and ruminate on thoughts of unworthiness. I know that may sound weird or overly sensitive. And I do not consider myself to be an overly sensitive person.

One of the old wounds and lies that the enemy tries to dig up and poke at is one I grew up believing that had stayed with me for a very long time. “You aren’t really likable. You will never be part of the popular crowd. Nobody really wants you or desires to be around you.” While Jesus has done a lot of healing for me in that area, if I am not diligent, the devil will take old thoughts and lies and serve them right up on a silver platter trying to get me to feast on them. And that is what was happening that morning at church. Thank the good Lord, literally, that I was able to discern the devil’s deception in those moments, reject the lie and turn my mind to truth. I am included in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1:11). You are included!

1 Peter 5:8-9 beckons us; “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

Be alert. Stand firm. Don’t buy into falsehoods but anchor yourself firmly in your faith, in what is true.

Studies show that addressing our dysfunctional thinking, or in other words, rejecting the lies of the enemy and replacing them with truth, is the single most effective intervention to overcoming that dreadful feeling of not belonging.

So, whose voice are you listening to? (The enemy wants to destroy your peace and he will go to great lengths to find the weak spot of your wounds and use them to manipulate your thoughts and feelings.)

The only one who deserves any airtime in your head in Jesus so turn your thoughts over to him.

Have you ever had your peace disrupted? You know that was really a leading question. We have all experienced numerous times in our lives when our peace has been jolted. There are times where you cannot control what comes your way and attempts to disrupt your peace. There are other times when we ourselves are the culprits of forsaking our own peace.

The other day I woke up to do my typical morning quiet time. It’s a routine of reading the Bible and sitting in a time of stillness with Jesus. But instead of digging right into the Word I did something I had done more times than I would like to admit. I picked up my phone and started scrolling. Within seconds I felt my peace leak out being replaced with anxiousness, and a feeling of uneasiness creeping in. As I was “harmlessly” flipping through people’s social media updates I inadvertently started comparing my life with theirs. It was unconscious but I became astutely aware when my barometer of peace dropped, and negative thoughts started pelting me like hail on a stormy day. Thoughts of unworthiness and inadequacy flooded my mind. “Who do you think you are?” “You are not good enough or qualified enough.” “That person is way farther along and more accomplished than you. “You do not have what it takes.” I could feel myself sinking fast and it was my fault. I did not guard my mind. I sacrificed my peace for a few minutes on my phone. I let the enemy have a foothold in my mind and disparaging thoughts ran rampant.

Proverbs 4:23 warns about being intentional about protecting your peace when it says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it..”

The Passion translation says it this way: “So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” The word heart is translated from the Hebrew word meaning mind, knowledge, thinking, consciousness.

If your mind and heart are infiltrated and polluted with comparison and thoughts of incompetence, insufficiency, or inferiority, the enemy will have a field day force feeding you lies, and your peace will be compromised. You have a choice on what you fill your mind with. So, the next time you are tempted to grab your phone instead of meditating on the Word of God remember this: Scripture before screen time! Let the Word of God dwell in you richly before compromising your peace with comparison and social media.

No matter what you do on your job each day, you have developed skills and abilities through that job that are valuable. I have a friend who is teaching communication skills in a very different cross-cultural place overseas. As she was telling me what she does and how she has learned to communicate in this challenging setting, I told her that the skills she is learning and her experience in this job, though difficult at times, are giving her skills and abilities that are rare and very valuable. She’s learning “on the job” as we say, and that knowledge and skill is making her a much more valuable employee.

Certainly, that’s been true in my life, as well, as I spent many years conducting training seminars in my company and for many other companies across the country. That experience of putting together and making an effective presentation is a skill that God was teaching me through my job—and one he now uses for ministry purposes.

But what I want to talk about is not the performance skills and experience you gain through your employment, as helpful as they are, but the many other life skills and relationship skills you are learning, even though while you’re in the midst of it, it may seem more like baptism by fire rather than a training experience. Here are some examples of the practical and important things you should be learning in a job, if indeed you’re doing a good job. You learn

The importance of being on time

The importance of meeting deadlines

How to work with a team to accomplish a task

How critical it is to fulfill your promises and commitments

That it’s very important to do everything with excellence, and avoid do-overs

That procrastination is deadly

That you can’t afford to let things fall between the cracks

Those are just some of the practical things you learn when you accept the responsibility of a job. For sure a job well-done will require these kinds of skills. And if you aren’t willing to learn these things, it will affect your progress, your promotions, your paycheck—it will hold you back.

So, I would ask you to survey your work habits in these areas. Are you learning these things, or are you resisting them? I’ve often said that a Christ-follower may not be the smartest or the most educated or the most experienced person on their job, but they can be the most dependable, the hardest worker, and have the highest level of integrity. No matter what you do or where God takes you, these characteristics will always be important to your success, to pleasing God.

Now, let’s think of some other things God wants to teach you through your job. I think toward the top of that list would be learning to love people you may not like that much! Your coworkers are not necessarily people you would choose to be with five days a week, eight hours a day. No doubt you have discovered that not everyone is “your type,” and so you are challenged to get along with people that are not that easy to get along with.

In the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the Bible teaches us the true definition of love. It is patient, it is kind, it looks for the good in people, not the bad, it doesn’t hold grudges, it hangs in with someone when others have given up, it endures all things. God’s love is an action, not necessarily a feeling, and you can choose to love someone by showing them these kinds of actions, even if you don’t like the way they behave, the way they treat you, their work habits, or their lifestyle. Almost any job you have—and that includes working in a Christian environment—places you in the company of other people, and you have the privilege, the great opportunity, to learn to love people with God’s kind of love. That means you become more and more like Jesus, as you follow his commandment to “love one another.”

Of course, you also have the option of refusing to learn this lesson, and instead just being continually irritated and negative about the people you work with or for.

If you had to grade yourself on how contented you are, on a scale of one to ten, would you say you are very contented, a ten, or would your grade fall much lower on that scale?

Paul wrote to Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” That’s really what I want to communicate, that we all need to learn to be content with who we are, how God has created us, content with our bodies, our personalities, our gifting, and yes, even our circumstances. And when you are satisfied with who you are, if you then pursue godliness at the same time, you are in for great gain!

What kind of gain, you may ask. The gain of knowing you are growing more like Jesus; the gain of seeing how God is using you in the lives of others; the great gain of knowing that Jesus is pleased; you can hear his “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That is the kind of gain that this world can never give you. No success or money or achievement will ever come close to the gain that, as a Christ-follower, you are walking worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter wrote that “His (Jesus’) divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). When you and I make that the priority of our lives—to live godly lives for the glory of Jesus—and that desire is coupled with contentment, we will have great gain.

So often when our circumstances are out of sorts—we've got the wrong job or we live in the wrong place or we don't have enough money or we don't have good health or whatever—we are then tempted to waste our lives and squander our opportunities. If that's where you are, I urge you to pray daily that God will teach you to be content with your circumstances and help you accept what is coming your way. But at the same time, don't settle for life in the doldrums just because the circumstances are rotten.

Accept but don't settle; be contented and discontented. You can hold both in balance; you can be more content and appreciative of who you are, just the way God made you, and where your life is right now. But it will also remind you not to let yourself off the hook but always strive to be all that you can be for the glory of Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage you to be very contented with how God has created you. Appreciate God’s creativity in you, and at the same time, never settle for staying where you are in your spiritual growth and maturity. Accept but don’t settle.

Your Circumstances

Let me mention one more thing where we need to be contented, and that is with our circumstances. Paul wrote: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" (Philippians 4:11b). Have you learned that lesson yet? Just think about the freedom you and I would have if we could truly say with Paul: "I am content with my circumstances.”

I think of a friend whom I admire greatly. She worked for Moody Radio in Chicago for many years, and is a gracious, lovely, talented woman. Due to a work-related accident, her husband was disabled most of their long-married life. When that happened, overnight her dreams of what her life would be like died, as she was forced to become a working woman and raise their children, while helping her disabled husband.

When I think of the years she did that, I marvel at her attitude. She never complained; she learned to be content in the midst of very difficult circumstances. And even when more family problems were poured on her head, she continued to trust God and accept what was coming her way.

Through all the years she never lost heart or gave up or ran away—all of which I would have been tempted to do. Instead, she contributed immensely to her job and improved herself and did the most anyone could do "under the circumstances," as we say. She comes to my mind as a woman who has accepted the circumstances of her life, and yet they have not beaten her into the ground. She has grown and contributed and made a beautiful life for herself.

Have you accepted the way God has gifted you? The Bible clearly teaches us that each believer has been given definite and recognizable gifts or talents, which are resources to use in serving the Lord.

The things God has gifted you to do are the things that make you the happiest and bring the most satisfaction. You'll find great joy when you're functioning the way God created you to.

For example, if you have the gift of encouragement, your greatest joy will be to write notes, help someone out, listen to a heartache—lots of things which an encourager does so well. Using your God-given gifts and talents will bring you satisfaction, and you will do those things with enthusiasm and excellence.

But here's the other side of the coin: Never be satisfied with your gifts the way they are. Jesus taught us that when we use the gifts and talents he has given us, he will give us more. The Apostle Paul told young Timothy to “fan into a flame the gift of God in you,” and that’s a good prayer you can pray. “Lord, help me do the very most with the gifts you’ve provided for me.”

So, accept the talents and gifts God has invested in you, and then set out to grow them as much as possible. Start where you are, with whatever you have to offer, and see where God can take it.

Your Intelligence

Are you contented with your intelligence? There's no doubt that God gave some people more brain power than others. Do you feel like you've been short-changed? Well, God needs some real smart brainy types, but he needs a lot of us ordinary types as well.

You may not have the highest IQ around, but you've got far more brain power than you realize. Don't settle for where you are intellectually; become a student and continually work at learning more—and you can improve your mind and knowledge whether in school or not, whether young or not-so-young. Good reading habits will make a huge difference. Be curious. Investigate and learn. There are lots of free on-line courses that you can use.