The Pathway To Peace In A World Full of Chaos

“Worry is listening to your heart. Peace comes from talking to your heart.” ~ Timothy Keller

Is your head spinning like mine is? There is so much disunity and chaos in our world today that it can be challenging to find inner peace.

With all the confusion and fear around us it’s easy to lose sight of the beauty in our lives.

There is, however, a pathway to peace in a world full of chaos.

When the Covid19 Pandemic started (almost two years ago), I was riddled with fear. Unfortunately, my natural tendency is to always go to the worse case scenario, and therefore, I started believing that I and my loved ones, would all die from this virus. My anxiety was so intense that for Christmas break, I actually told my son and his wife that since they had flown and had been around many people, I wasn’t comfortable having them come over. We met in a park, all bundled up in our winter gear, to exchange gifts. It’s sad what fear pushes people to do.

I, however, had an unrest in my spirit, a heaviness with my decision. This feeling would tug at my heart and it was very consistent. I began to seek the Lord on why I was feeling this way. It was a few months later that I sensed the Lord lovingly whisper to my heart, “Tweeny you allowed the spirit of fear to control you, and fear is never from Me.” I was so convicted, that I literally wept, for days. My heart hurt that I had allowed the enemy(through fear) to rob me of a sweet blessing from the Lord. Our son and his wife lived in a different state at the time, and we didn’t see them very often. This was time with them that I lost out on because I had allowed fear of catching a virus overrule me.

This experience changed me in a powerful way. As it is written in Romans 8:28, “We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan” (The Voice Translation). God used my remorse to help me break a bondage of fear in my life.

After that day, I put a stake of faith in the ground and made an intentional decision that I wasn’t going to live my life in fear of the future, but was going to find the pathway to peace in this world full of chaos.

I was reminded of a book I read years ago by Joyce Meyer called “Do it Afraid.” In this book she encourages us to take a stance against the devil and to not let fear rule our lives. I decided I was going to live my life in freedom, even if I felt afraid. Doing things afraid became a new motto for me, a pathway to peace in a world full of chaos. Pushing myself to start going to stores again, meeting with friends, going in to church (rather than watching online), etc. wasn’t easy, but I did it afraid. Shaking people’s hands and giving them hugs was even more challenging for me, but I pushed myself to do it anyway.

I stood on Psalm 139:16 that says “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” This verse helped me fight off my fears as I realized that God has a destiny for me. He has a plan and a purpose for me, and although I ought always use godly wisdom in my daily life, I cannot resist my fate. What has been written for my life, by God, is written already and cannot be altered.

We find the pathway to peace in a world full of chaos when we accept and embrace God’s plans for our lives.

I began to live life the way my recovery program has taught me-living life one day at a time, even one moment at a time. This is the secret to finding peace in a world full of chaos. It doesn’t have to be fear of a pandemic, sometimes our world is turned upside down by a bad health report, or a relationship failure, a tragedy, etc. The truth is life is unpredictable, and we don’t know what tomorrow brings. In Matthew 6:34 God tells us, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” This is why it is important to live in the moment and not in the tomorrows and the what if’s. This, dear friend, is the pathway to peace in a world full of chaos.

My life has changed dramatically since I made the decision to live life one day at a time, and doing things afraid. I not only have more inner peace, I I also have more joy. Today I am genuinely enjoying life, even though I don’t know what tomorrow brings. I am learning to surrender and accept whatever God has planned for me, for today. I am learning that preaching God’s truths to myself gives me more faith so I can enjoy this life He has given me. His promises of never abandoning me help me face my fears.

Preaching God’s truths to my heart is the pathway to peace in a world full of chaos.

I have to remind myself that “right now, in this moment, all is well, Tweeny.”

I’m learning to celebrate the life God has given me, and to be excited for His plans for me. I have to become more intentional and think of best case scenarios first.

As believers, it’s important that we encourage ourselves and one another to never give up in finding peace in life’s struggles. Life is hard, but God has promised to help us (Psalm 46:1-3). Sometimes just reminding yourself and others of this can change the course of our day or life. I love what Timothy Keller says: “Worry is listening to your heart. Peace comes from talking to your heart.”

God is our shelter and our strength.

    When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He’s ready to help.

So why run and hide?

² No fear, no pacing, no biting fingernails.

    When the earth spins out of control, we are sure and fearless.

    When mountains crumble and the waters run wild, we are sure and fearless.

³ Even in heavy winds and huge waves,

    or as mountains shake, we are sure and fearless.

Psalm 46:1-3 (The Voice).

As a pathway to peace in a world full of chaos begin making your own daily headlines.

For example, my headline today could be “Mother full of joy to see her children this week for Thanksgiving,” or “Grateful for another day to be healthy.” Get creative on what headlines you could make daily for yourself.

Let’s learn to rejoice in the blessings we have in our own little world. We can choose to live one day at a time, one moment at a time, all the while accepting that our good Father has planned out our lives already. Live life intentionally and bravely, as if it were your last day. Do it afraid, if you have to, like I am. It’s worth the risk because you will be living a faith filled life, which is a rich abundant life.

May you choose to rest in Christ’s Peace today, and each day ahead of you. That’s what I’m planning on doing!

“Make the most of every living and breathing moment because these are evil times.” ~ Ephesians 5:16 (The Voice)

Photo 1 Photo by Merlin Lightpainting on Pexels.com

Photo 2 by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash