Peace & Faith

 Peace and Faith Interlinked

What is peace and what is faith, how does one effect the other?

On Peace

My heart is often overwhelmed with the small things. I often think about how I really should have done something differently or reacted in a different way. I know these thoughts are not exclusive to me. But what I always find amazing in my personal life, is the peace I find in hindsight. 

I often look back at the chaotic things that have happened and am astonished by how I handled it. Situations where my mother could have died, I acted as though all was well with the world and had truly believed it. I am often baffled by the serenity and composure I have experienced during truly trying and long periods of my life. 

In the end though, the only explanation is that God is/was with me. Or more specifically, the Holy Spirit consumed me. 

The realization of God's omnipresence has allowed me to find him beyond my circumstances. Something that is often said in my environment is this:

"When you find yourself lost and cannot hear God's voice, look back and remember the last thing he told you."

Now, in my times of doubt, rather than allowing myself to suffer in my own understandings, I seek God where I am; if I cannot hear Him, I search for Him in where I was. I meditate on His personal words to me. On His promises, on his covenant with me. Several examples of this can be found in my previous posts. Jesus is the word, and the word is a firm foundation. 

My point is this, peace is found in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. 

Inviting Him into our circumstances is never wrong. Seeking Him in doubt is never wrong. The only wrong thing we can do, is ignore His desire for our life, which I believe is and always will be good.

So, peace, peace for me is the lack of doubt. It is not necessarily the feeling of something being right, but the knowing and not even conceiving the opposite. The security in what is, even if what is, is in reality a chaotic mess.

In the moment when I find myself without that security, when I am doubting if I am still on the right path, I seek the holy Spirit. I know what it feels like to be in His presence. So, I reflect, why was I so sure He was with me then and am not so sure now? Has anything changed?

If my circumstances have not changed, if I have received no new word from Him, then surely too, He is still by my side. Where is my peace? 

In my mind, once I have asked these questions, and have affirmed that I am still on the right path, I seek to understand what other reasons could be making me feel so off. Eventually I can only connect it to faith.

On Faith

There are moments in life when God carries us through the time. Where he shows His grace in the hardship. But there is also moments when it is our task to walk forwards in trust. We already made the choice to believe in a God that we cannot see. Why not also grow our faith by trusting and believe when we cannot feel Him, and when we cannot hear Him.

Faith is something to be exercised. Think of it like this, faith is like knowledge. We can learn to read but may not learn to write. We see the words and the letters, and we KNOW what they are and what they mean. We are sure to fully believe ourselves able to replicate it as we have seen them our whole lives and understand them to a high degree. 

But then, the time comes to actually put it to practice. We are handed a pencil and paper, we are asked simple to write one word. That word is our own name. 

Be honest, how many people do you think would be able to actually write their name the way they imagine it for the first time?

Faith needs to be put into practice. We often have no idea just how lacking our knowledge is until we put it into practice. But still, all the previous experience is not for no purpose. It is still all the preparations you have made that will allow you to eventually not just write with your hands but tell stories with them. To narrate your thought, your understandings and your dreams. 

It is this practiced faith and this understanding that allows me to hold fast. To pause in my own doubts and reflect on that previous knowledge. That previous feeling of peace I had. 

Another analogy would be like becoming blind. Let's say you have lived in your own home for over 10 years. You know the space inside and out. But suddenly you lose your sight. For some time, you may become disoriented and confused. But still, this is your home. You know you have not left. So now, you have to learn navigate the familiar with one less sense. 

Now imagine the same thing happening but you lose your sight in a place you have just moved to. In one case, you can rest on your foundations, but in another, you will be lost.

Peace and Faith Interlinked

It is my faith that allows me to remember the peace I have walked. To cast away the doubts. To shed the worries and stand on my foundation.

I stand on the foundation of Jesus. The solid rock. But not just any rock, a rock that is further strengthened via my relationship with Him. A rock that grows higher through not just The Word, but His personal words to me. 

This is my understanding of Peace and Faith. 

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

I pray that for those who are struggling to find peace can use what I have written. That those who are struggling to retain their faith, can use what I have written to rekindle their own. I truly pray that you form your own understandings or grow what you already have. 

Please, share your thoughts and opinions with me. How do you see the Peace and Faith interlinked? Share in the comments.

May God bless you all and may you find prosperity in your lives.

This has been Lillyana, Walking with God.