Tuesday, 13 January 2009
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Finding Peace is Difficult
Guest post submitted by isayhialot222
Our lives are filled with conflict, argument, disagreement. But how we react to such circumstances, dictate whether or not we will ever find peace, within the moment, within ourselves, and within the world. The difficulty of finding my own peace lies within my negative attributes: my greed, my selfishness, my stubbornness, my self-righteousness, etc.
Though there are of course times where conflict is unavoidable, most often who we are leads us to the disconcerted feeling we have in those moments of imperfection that blocks the light in our lives. It is these moments of imperfection that the Lord asks us to reflect upon in order to discern where we went wrong. That is the first step.
The second: to realize that we are in need of forgiveness. The grace God blesses us with, the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and the love He rains down upon us are what will save us. With a blank slate, our minds need to focus on change, change of both thought and action. In doing so, we ensure a constant path of growth and improvement, a path destined for betterment of ourselves, each other, and the world.
The number and the level of difficulty of changes we need to make are never constants. Each one of us has our own lives, our own hardships, and our own gifts. But we, the children of God, must realize that if we all work in support and love and care with one another, we are capable of great things.
The Lord has given us so many gifts – the world, this life – and what we do with them is in our hands. There will be times that we stumble, but it is only normal. What we do after is up to us.
May the Lord bless us as we set on a course to learn how to love one another. May He guide us in finding strength of mind so we know what we should change, strength of will so that we have the urge to change it, and strength of body so that we have the capability to change it.
Have you ever found it hard in your life to do what you knew was right? What kind of obstacles keep you from finding your own peace?
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About the Author
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- From: isayhialot222@xanga
- Name: Michael
- About Me: Hi. I'm Michael, and I like to mix philosophical and religious discussion with nonsensical banter. :D :] I believe in God and I respect those who don't as long as they respect me. I graduated 5/2/09 as a senior from Bellarmine College Prep and I will be attending UCSB in the fall as a psych major C/O '13.
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Comments (16)
"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3
Thank you for this post. Peace is something we all long for in our lives.
I really needed this post...I struggle with whether or not I feel that it's good to make mistakes (to a certain extent) because that's how we become stronger, better people, or if I should always strive to do what's right and "live in a box" so to speak, never taking any risks. I have a lot of friends who live by the "if it makes you happy, do it" mentality but that can also be potentially harmful.
There are so many things I want to do that I know are not right with God. I admire people who say they will try anything once but then again, it's not always healthy to do that. This is something I struggle with daily.
wow... a much needed post...
i've found more and more that peace is more cultivated when one meditates on God's faithfulness and that He (for me) grows it... it's not this feeling either... it's more of a surity one can't explain... though I haven't had that as of late... other than a fact that I know of with what I'm dealing with...
@sarahzthoughts@xanga - Your comment was very touching to me, especially if you are as young as your profile pic reflects. Just wanted you to know that, :)
I've never found it hard finding peace, honestly. Keeping the peace, however, so that I can enjoy the peace I've found..now that's another story, lol. I come from a dysfunctional family. I love my mother, but she complains constantly, fusses about every little thing, doctors, stores, other people. My sister, while I love her, she's just nuts. Once being a devout Christian, now I believe the only word she knows is the "f" word. I have to constantly tell her to watch her mouth when she is around my 4.5-year-old. My son is doing better but has stayed in trouble all of his life. And then, there is me, a very demanding, probably control freak, lol. I just expect things to run smoothly, never expect any interruptions in life, which we know there are and will be.
I have peace in Him. My difficulty lies, as above, in keeping the peace in the family so I can enjoy the wonderful peace I have in Him, :)
Great post! Peace be with you!
Cheryl
@JUSTAVAPORHERE@xanga - No thank YOU for your comment! Just curious how old you think I am based on that picture? I'm probably older than you think
I can relate to your family situation...I am the only (new) Christian in my family. I was raised Jewish and no one really knows yet...but I know that my dad and my brother have negative opinions of Christianity based on bad examples (the Inquisition, Crusades, pushy street preachers, etc).
My mom suspects based on some conversations we've had about it but she's convinced that this is all a phase I'm going through, nothing more. I worry what will happen if they find out...there's a good chance I could be disowned by some family members. So finding peace has been difficult lately, in addition to some issues I've been having with my current boyfriend...but I have hope that things will get better, maybe not right away, but some day!
@sarahzthoughts@xanga - I'm 43, and a pretty good judge of character and age, at least I've always felt that I was, lol...In that picture, you look about 19 at best!
And bless your heart on that family situation, :). All I can tell you is to follow your convictions. It would be horrible to be disowned, no doubt, especially because of what your beliefs are, but I must tell you I'd rather have man mad at me any day of the week than God, lol. Besides, your parents and family might be upset for awhile, but I can promise you with you being their daughter, especially if you are their only daughter, they would eventually come around. Blood truly is thicker than water, :)
@JUSTAVAPORHERE@xanga - So close...I'm 20!
And you're right about me being their only daughter. I know they will always love me, but no doubt will they see me as a different person than before. For them Judaism is more of an identity than a religion, and that identity is something I will have with me forever. I'd like to think I have the best of both worlds, so to speak.
My peace never measures up to His ! It's always some aspect of my flesh and my magic magnifying mind that leads me to such undesirable lessons of life.
@sarahzthoughts@xanga - :)
Great thread, thankx for sharing. I can relate...for me the difficulty in finding peace goes from the search for answers to why things in my life have been so difficult.
I know what I need to do to make things right with God, but I can't. Im furious with him. So many things dont make sense.
Im always searching for peace, I was raised in a christian home and then moved to other homes that werent. So many christians say turning everything over to God helps. Living life supposedly helps, living a healthy life style helps.
My obstactles are the constant flucuating moods, memories, nightmares, emptiness, being lost, belonging no where, being nothing, distrust, fear, self harm and everyone giving up/avoiding.
What are some ideas on finding peace?
It's interesting, it is very simple for me to find peace when it involves the actions of others. I can't control it, so I figure, why get bent out of shape and risk losing my sanity over some one else? However when it comes to myself, I lose peace easily. I feel that anything I do wrong is my own fault (I set standards way too high for myself) and it is also my fault if I don't do anything to change. While in some respects this may be true, sometimes it honestly is beyond my control.. but I still continue to put myself down.
Now, I am very confident, smart, and happy. I suppose if you don't blame others, you only have yourself left to blame, despite everything. eh, who knows.
I really, really like this...very well written.
"I can't control it, so I figure, why get bent out of shape and risk losing my sanity over some one else?"
WOW great point!!
peace is to trust Him, and let the threat fade away in comparison to His power. easier said than done