21 Ways to Finding Peace and Happiness (2 page)

Jesus made the statement recorded in John 14:27 after His death and resurrection and prior to His ascension into heaven. There were many things He could have taught His disciples, but He chose to talk about peace. This fact alone reminds me of how important peace is. What a tragedy it would be if we spent our lives without peace when it was available all the time.

Some people don’t have peace with God because they are not born again and need to trust Jesus Christ to be their Savior. But some, even Christians, still lack peace because they have not responded to the leading of the Holy Spirit simply to do what is right. They don’t have peace because they are living in disobedience or they have built up a bad habit of worrying over the years. And some people don’t have peace because they are mad at God. Perhaps they prayed for something and it didn’t happen. Perhaps somebody else got what they wanted. Perhaps somebody they loved died, and they don’t understand why, or they were praying for a healing and didn’t get it.

There are many, many reasons why people don’t trust God, but in order to enjoy peace, we must learn to trust Him in all things. We must trust that God is totally and completely just, which means He always makes wrong things right if we continue to lean on Him. The Bible says we know “in part.” I believe God has an individual plan for everyone. God is perfect; He never does anything wrong. We don’t know everything, and we’re not ever going to know everything. Sometimes we make ourselves unhappy because we don’t
trust
enough.

We always want God to change our circumstance, but He’s more interested in changing
us
than He is our situation. A lot of people have faith to ask God for deliverance
from
something, but they don’t have enough faith to take them
through
anything.

Job said, “Even though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (see Job 13:15). If we’re asking God for something and don’t get it, then we have to believe God knows more than we do. We need to trust God beyond what we see and beyond what we know. We cannot have peace without that trust in God.

We tend to think that the persons with the greatest faith are the ones who get the miracles. I’m not really sure about that, myself. We make so much out of miracles when they happen. We think,
Oh, what great faith they have! They got a miracle.
But I think the ones with the greater faith are the ones who
keep their peace
even when they don’t get the miracles they wanted. I think the greater faith is in those who have to walk it out and decide to love God anyway. The people who don’t get everything they’re asking for, and who might not understand why, but yet continue to love and praise God, are truly trusting God. They stay in church, give their tithes and offerings, and stay full of peace. That is remarkable faith, in my opinion.

Thomas wanted proof that Jesus really had risen from the dead. He said he would not believe unless he could see in Jesus’ hands the marks made by the nails and actually put his fingers into the nail prints and put his hand into Jesus’ side. Jesus allowed Thomas to do so but told him that those who believed without having to see were blessed and happy and to be envied (see John 20:24–29).

We all would enjoy a miracle breakthrough every time we had a need, but we should have enough faith to stay the course if God chooses to take us on the long, hard route.

If you are ready to do whatever you need to do to enjoy a life of peace, this book is for you. I cannot promise that all your unpleasant circumstances will change, but I sincerely believe you can have and enjoy peace no matter what your circumstances are if you are willing to learn how to respond to people and situations the way Jesus did.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten you and grant you revelation as you press toward a life of peace. The book includes twenty-one ways you can do this. Even after you have completed the book, I suggest you read it often to remind yourself of the principles of peace. If you find you are slipping back into old ways (something we all do at times), go back over the principles and see where you have begun to backslide. I pray this will be one of those books you can use the rest of your life to help you maintain peace, which I believe is one of the most important benefits and blessings that God has given us.

Part I
BE AT PEACE
WITH GOD

Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

—T
HE APOSTLE
P
AUL
,
Romans 5:1

Peacekeeper #1
TRUST THE LORD OF PEACE

G
od wants us to enjoy life and see good days. In fact, God’s Word tells us to
search
for peace, and seek it eagerly (see 1 Peter 3:11). We are not to merely
desire
peaceful relations with God, with our fellow men, and with ourselves, but we are to pursue and go after peaceful relationships!

The first way to find peace is in learning to trust God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. We cannot have peace with God, others, or ourselves without His lordship in our lives. The Bible says that Jesus is our wisdom from God (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). His Word teaches us how to live properly. He doesn’t just give us wisdom—He
is
our wisdom. Through trusting the Prince of Peace and having a personal relationship with Him, we actually have indwelling wisdom from the Lord’s presence in us.

If we would get still long enough to let that wisdom rise and minister to our minds, we wouldn’t do so many foolish things. Too many times, we react through our emotions and we don’t pay any attention to the wisdom in our hearts. We tend to make decisions according to our thoughts rather than living by discernment and according to what the Holy Spirit is placing in our hearts. Consequently, we get ourselves in trouble.

I believe that Jesus is everything we need in any situation. He is sufficient to meet the need for every circumstance that we will ever face. So, we certainly must learn how to go to Jesus for much more than just salvation or a ticket into heaven. We need to take Him as our everything in life, including as our Prince of Peace.

J
ESUS
G
OVERNS
O
UR
L
IVES

Isaiah 9:6–7 says, “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end
” (italics mine).

The government that is upon the shoulders of Jesus is not a political government; the verse is referring to the governing of our lives. We are not supposed to be running our own lives. In fact, we are not capable or qualified to run our own lives. Not one of us is intelligent enough to know what is best. That is why we should be thankful for God’s interference.

I like the promise that there will be no end to the increase of His government and peace. The more His government increases in my life (the more He governs my life, my thoughts, my conversations, my decisions, and my actions), the more peace I am going to have.

Peace doesn’t come from success and money and promotions and feeling good about everything in life. We find peace in the kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace, and joy within us. Being right with God, knowing we are right with God, and doing the right thing out of knowing who we are in Christ is a process, but it leads us to peace, and peace leads us to joy.

And if we don’t have righteousness, peace, and joy, then we are not enjoying the kingdom of God as we should. Sometimes we may need to take a vacation from all the other things we look for and instead seek the kingdom. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then
all these things
taken together will be given you besides” (italics mine).

We work and struggle and strive at “all these things,” such as food and clothing and position in society. But what we should be doing is searching out God’s kingdom; we should seek Jesus and His government in our lives. Colossians 1:10 says, “That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things.”

B
E A
D
ISCIPLE OF
J
ESUS

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34 NIV). If we want to have peace, we have to stop following other voices; we must be God pleasers, not man pleasers, and we must choose to follow Jesus on a daily basis.

For many years, I was in a church that gave me a great foundation about salvation, but I never learned much past that. I had many problems in my life, but I wasn’t getting any victory over any of them. I certainly didn’t know how to pursue or go after peace. Satan distracted me by getting me involved with many activities that did not produce good fruit in my life.

I was not taught to study God’s Word myself, and because I didn’t know the Word of God, I wasn’t aware of the many deceptions that can grossly mislead people. For example, before I was in ministry I worked at an office where a coworker studied astrology. At the time, the things she talked about seemed to make sense (because I had no knowledge of God’s Word on this subject). She believed the position of the planets and stars directed her life. She said there were even optimum times to get a haircut to have the best results.

Today, advice is easy to obtain from psychics, tarot card readers, sorcerers, and people skilled in divination who would like to run people’s lives. They may give information that seems to make sense, but it will not produce lasting peace in a person’s life. As I look back at those early years of being a believer, I am sad to say that nobody in my church told me not to follow these voices of deception. No one warned me that the Bible clearly says those who practice these types of things will not enter the kingdom of heaven (see Revelation 21:8). We are to follow God, not psychics, astrologers, mediums, tarot card readers, or any such thing. God’s Word actually says that these things are an abomination to Him. To enjoy peace, we must be led by the Lord of Peace.

To be a disciple of Jesus means to study His teaching, imitate His life, and correctly analyze the Word of Truth (see 2 Timothy 2:15). We will have God’s power to live our lives well if we devote our attention to God’s Word and allow Jesus to transform us by following the peace that He alone can give.

Peace is our inheritance from Jesus, but we have to choose to follow Him daily. Colossians 3:15 teaches us that peace is to be the “umpire” in our lives, settling every issue that needs a decision. To gain and maintain peace in our hearts, we may have to learn to say no to a few things.

For example, if we don’t feel peace about something, we should never go ahead and do it. And if we don’t have peace
while
we are doing something, then we shouldn’t expect to have peace
after
we have done it. Many people marry others they didn’t have peace about marrying, and then they wonder why they don’t have peace in their marriages. Many people buy expensive items they didn’t have peace about buying, then continue to lose their peace every month when they have to make payments on them.

I want to repeat the text I used previously because it is vital to living life well. Colossians 3:15 says to let the peace from Christ “rule (act as umpire continually)” in our hearts. The presence of peace helps us decide and settle with finality all questions that arise in our minds. If you let the Word have its home in your heart and mind, it will give you insight
and
intelligence
and
wisdom (see v. 16). You won’t have to wonder,
Should I or shouldn’t I? I don’t
know if it’s right. I don’t know what to do.
If you are a disciple of Christ, He has called you to follow peace.

Dave, my husband, and I were trying to make a decision on a large purchase we needed to make. We called some of our board members from the ministry and presented the need to them, asking, “What do you think?”

They all gave their opinions, but as I listened to them I knew suddenly that I didn’t have peace about going forward with the plan. We have learned by experience to wait if we don’t have peace for something. Everyone agreed to wait on God to give us all peace before we proceeded.

I was out shopping recently and went into a children’s clothing store. It was one I had not been in for perhaps a year or more. I saw some items that I thought would be perfect for two of my granddaughters. They were little pink shirts with rhinestone hearts on them. It was Valentine’s Day and I wanted to give them something, so I called my daughter to check on their clothing sizes before making my purchase.

She said, “I cannot believe this! I was in that shop last night, looking at those exact shirts, but I didn’t have peace about spending any money. I really wanted to buy them for the girls but felt I needed to honor God by not doing something I did not have peace about.” Then she said, “Mom, I believe God is blessing me because I obeyed Him.” She was very excited.

Letting her girls receive the shirts as a gift was much more fun than purchasing them. Had she disobeyed what she felt in her heart and done what she did not have peace about, she probably would have been uncomfortable in her spirit, perhaps even miserable. We both got to be part of a miracle because she chose to follow peace!