Feeling Peaceful

Feeling Peaceful

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Isaiah 26:3

Is it possible to experience emotional peace regardless of what is going on around you? The answer to that is yes, sometimes it is possible. But should that be our ultimate goal? Though Paul told the Philippians that he had learned to be content regardless of circumstances (see Philippians 4:11), I don’t think he was claiming to be immune to episodes of fear, distress, or sorrow. Paul was still human. He still had an emotional life.

The same is true of Jesus. Though he maintained an incredible calm during his trial and imprisonment, we don’t know what he was feeling inside as he made his way to the cross. We do, of course, know that he confided in his disciples the night before his death, saying, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). We know, too, that he had been angry about the way the Temple had become a marketplace and that he was grieved over the death of his friend Lazarus. Clearly Jesus had a rich emotional life, but his emotional responses were entirely appropriate to the circumstances he faced.

When it comes to feelings, it may be that the kind of peace God promises has more to do with reordering our emotional life so that we, too, can respond appropriately to the difficulties we face. That makes sense if we remember that shalom contains within it the idea of enjoying good health. Today as you seek more of God, ask him to work his peace into you, like a baker kneading yeast into dough. As you pray, take time to think about any negative emotional patterns that may have developed in your life. Bring these to the Lord, asking him to heal and change you.

Father, thank you for all you have done and all you will yet do. Help me keep my eyes on you, trusting that you will make me into a woman whose life is marked by your shalom.