Peace Within, Peace Without

What happens when we stop relying on our environment to create our peace

Life is messy. Having 15 children closely spaced together has proven this to me over and over again.

For many, many years just about every second of every day was filled with lots of LOUD! Kids playing happily, squabbling, running machines of all sorts, exploring "interesting" music choices, and on, and on, and on.

Funny, but I rarely noticed it unless a stranger stepped in the door. It was at those times I realized just what a cacophony of sound I endured all day long, and sometimes into the night.

And yet, I was generally at peace, and my heart was full of the wonder of it all.

How was that possible?

Early on in my mothering I was led to meditate in Psalm 37 for a few years. It was here, with the help of Charles Spurgeon in his work, The Treasury of David, that the foundations were laid for the rest of my life.

One of the lessons I learned from my meditations was this quote which Spurgeon wrote:

Very much of our outward depends upon the inward: where there is heaven in the heart there will be heaven in the house.

And this was the key, something which I have paraphrased to make it my own:

Your environment does not create your peace,

Your peace creates your environment.

It's the opposite of what we have been led to believe. It's the opposite of what the influence of Eastern religion has tried to teach us.

I would not have survived mothering our 15 children if I was seeking solace in a zen garden or some other meditation technique!

But there is a better way. It's about keeping our eyes focused on God.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1

You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

--Helen H. Lemmel

Instead of some peaceful "feeling" that dissipates quickly when faced with reality, God's peace is real. It is so real it is almost tangible, and it is so powerful that it can overcome the most chaotic atmosphere.

Instead of watching a ton of videos and listening to hours of podcast episodes on minimalizing and organizing to get on top of the chaos, this is where we start; at the feet of Jesus, gazing into His gentle but fiery eyes, enthralled by His glowing presence, enveloped in His love.

Then, filled with Him, we can see past the circumstances before us and gain the ability to stand up on them and overcome them, one foe at a time.

I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;

Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

I have wounded them,

So that they could not rise;

They have fallen under my feet.

For You have armed me with strength for the battle;

You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

You have also given me the necks of my enemies,

So that I destroyed those who hated me.

They cried out, but there was none to save;

Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;

I cast them out like dirt in the streets.

Psalm 18:37-42

There is a peace that comes from confidence in God and His plans for us, and this is a peace that cannot be shaken.

Let us pray:

Oh, my God, my Rock, my Hope,

YOU are the one I am relying on today.

I am choosing to keep my eyes off of whatever comes my way, whether good or bad, and on You. I am choosing to keep my mind stayed on You, my heart wrapped up in what is important to You.

Be in my thoughts, in my actions, and always in my speech.

Because and for Jesus' sake,

Amen.