Finding Peace
Today I need to admit something honestly and without polishing it first. I need to say it out loud to myself, to God, and maybe one day to others: finding peace has been hard. Not just the situational kind of peace that shows up when a problem resolves or a storm finally passes, but the deeper peace that settles into the soul and stays steady even when everything else around me shakes. I have wanted that kind of peace for a long time. I have prayed for it, searched for it, and even convinced myself at times that I had it. Yet more often than not, it feels like it slips right through my hands.
I think part of the struggle is that life is relentlessly noisy. My mind rarely rests, crowded with memories I wish I could rewrite and worries about what tomorrow might bring. The world moves at a pace that leaves little room for stillness, and even when I slow my body down, my thoughts keep racing ahead. There is always some weight pressing in, something unfinished, something disappointing, or a quiet fear of being misunderstood or falling short.
On a very human level, peace also feels elusive because I keep trying to create it on my own. I try to manage outcomes and control details, believing that if I can just get everything lined up correctly, peace will finally arrive. Instead, the opposite happens. The tighter I grip, the more anxious I become. It feels like trying to calm an ocean with my own hands, draining my strength while accomplishing nothing.
At times I wonder if I have confused numbness with peace. I tell myself that if I avoid what hurts or stay distracted long enough, the discomfort will fade. But that is not peace at all, it’s only postponement. Real peace is not found by dodging the storm but by knowing that I am not alone in the middle of it.
That’s where God’s Word has begun to speak more clearly to me. Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Those words land heavily because I have been troubled and I have been afraid. Yet Jesus makes it clear that His peace operates differently. It is not dependent on circumstances. It is not something I earn or maintain through effort. It is a gift, and it belongs to Him.
Paul echoes this promise in Philippians 4:6–7 when he writes, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That peace that surpasses understanding is what my heart longs for. Not a peace that makes sense when life is calm, but a peace anchored in something greater than what I can see. A peace that stands guard over my heart and mind when everything else feels uncertain.
I am still learning. Some days peace feels close, and other days it feels far away, but I am beginning to believe that peace is not something I find through effort or striving, it is in the person of Jesus. Period. The more I lean into Jesus, the less I will feel the need to control and the more I will learn to rest. Maybe peace does not begin with success at all, but with surrender.
God, I am asking You again to quiet the storm within me. Be my peace when I cannot seem to find it anywhere else.
Forged by The Word 