"Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it." Psalm 34:14
In our very own lives, we all have something we desire to have peace about. Maybe its with family, certain relationships, circumstances, whatever the case may be we just want the peace of God to overwhelm us concerning our lives. Take a moment to look at your life honesty and ask yourself.. "Am I at peace?" and if not "What is it that I need to ask God for his peace about?"
As we continue to walk with God, we'll realize certain phases of our lives that teaches us how to learn to choose peace no matter what it feels like. Seems hard doesn't it? Well, honestly it is as hard as you make it. And that's one thing I want to talk with you about. How to maintain your peace in a chaotic world that wants you to just lose it. Did you know that even the smallest things we don't seem to realize can disturb our peace? Such as Social media, somebody else's business, or things we know we have no control over. Let's discuss these ways to maintain your peace.
1. Breaks from social media.
Social Media has the unfortunate power to control and define people. Base on what we view, we feed into what we think we need to keep up with, to whom we compare ourselves to, and why our lives aren't perfectly matching the "so-called" perfect lives on our timelines. It's quite overwhelming sort to speak isn't it? Trying to keep up with the world is hectic. Especially when you know you have such a special call on your life, the last thing the Lord wants you to do is try to keep up. That's why breaks from social media produces peace.
I can testify. When I have off days from work, I find it peaceful to just take some moments away from my phone to just rest; spending quiet time with the Lord, maybe watching some shows, (preferably cartoons; I somehow find peace in that! Haha) but just doing something other than scrolling on social media most of the time. I've found peace in saying, "It's okay to take a break from the world." Watch what it does spiritually when you challenge yourself in that manner. Part of the reason I've been so eager about taking breaks is because I wasn't guarding my heart while scrolling. I was in transition at the time and completely vulnerable; allowing myself to compare to other followers. I felt miserable, tired, and exhausted trying to find understanding to my current season. But I knew I wasn't going to get it from social media, because that left opportunities for the enemy to plant bad seeds.
I knew I needed to step away and make that a habit. Whether if it is an hour or two. Stepping away felt amazing. It helps you to realize that there's more to life than what you see on your screen. It helps you to refocus on what's more important. I was overwhelmed by all the great news I was seeing down my timeline, I couldn't congratulate honestly because I didn't have peace with where I was at. Indeed, the breaks were necessary to refocus on God and where he had me. Peace couldn't be found in scrolling nor could my identity either. And it took honesty with myself to find my peace and to maintain it by taking those breaks.
Have you allowed social media to take away your peace in any way, shape, or form?
If so, it's okay to take breaks. Your mental health matters. The matters of your heart are cared for. God wants you to live in peace. We won't let social media disturb our peace, we will guard our hearts and maintain the peace God has given us. Always remember that the world can wait; Your peace is important and "Me Time" is imperative.
2. Minding your own business.
If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. - 1 Peter 4:15
I don't think people understand the power of minding your own business and the peace that it produces when doing so.The most tempting place to pry around is at your workplace. There's always going to be something going on with another co-worker that you'll eventually end up gossiping with someone about.
Prying: excessively interested in a person's private affairs; too inquisitive.
With a guilty conscience (but not with a condemned spirit) I can testify and say that I have been at work like..."What happened?!" "Who said what? Who did what?" Dying to know all the facts that i'll eventually move on from later anyways. It's almost like "What's my point?" Some things can be avoided, for the purposes of what it could lead to. Always knowing what's going on causes unnecessary drama that you weren't meant to be part of. When I got myself involved into someone else's problem at work, it felt like it became my own and it made me furious. It did nothing but cause drama that took away the peace within the environment and with each other. It was such a great conviction to really lay low and get back focused on why God has me there in the first place.
When you're focused on God, you don't really have time to feed into business that doesn't involve you. You purposely stay away because you know what it could cause, you know how it can lead to stress. With minding my own business, it taught me how to even be careful with whom I choose to be in conversation with. If that person is always speaking negative about other co-workers, 9 times out of 10, that person isn't wise to engage with, especially when you're working on maintaining your peace. I'm working on being more vocal about changing the subject or just letting them know that i'm not interested in such negativity. When seeking to have a positive day, you have the right to protect that goal. You maintain your peace when your armor is fully set. You are in control of what you allow in your heart. We pray to bring the peace of God to work. And maybe it isn't always peaceful at your workplace, the peace you've developed with the Lord at home, carry with you always, despite of current vibes you may feel at work. Go with the mindset of minding yours, and the next time you feel tempted to know what's going on, remind yourself how pleasing it is to God to not get involved into other's affairs and of the peace you wish to maintain.
Reading that scripture set the tone of how I should daily approach going to work; it really does maintain the peace of God when you focus on him and the tasks that are given to you. How many of us have been involved into someone else's business and it became stressful? I pray that you know prying around does nothing but add disturbance to your peace. I pray that we begin to continue focusing on God and where he has us, and maintain that peace that came along with it.
3. Letting go of things we have no control over.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I can be a little of a control freak. I like to settle situations on a happy note, if a conflict arises. I like to try to make matters to a lot circumstances in my life that the Lord consistently reminds me that I have no control over. If we're honest, how many of us try to take control of the things only we know God can fix and do?
Can I share something with you? When I mentioned "settling situations on a happy note, when a conflict arises" I have a heart of caring, that became a little overwhelming because I had no control of how that person felt or the decisions they decided to make. The last time I tried to do that, I was at work, and I had a talk with my manager and the most highlighting thing he told me was, "You can't fix everything." I sat and pondered on that for a few, and realized that indeed, I can't. I got into a situation (That wasn't my business to begin with, (prying around) and let's just say things got taken out of proportion and hostility was aimed towards me, which I didn't take lightly. I felt I could fix the problem by just talking it out, defending myself and clearing my name out of such foolishness but it didn't go quite as planned and that frustrated me.
The situation led to the conversation with my manager. I later took that advice home with me to notice the peace that it brought when I realized how much control I don't have about how someone feels about me. How that person felt was their decision to stick with, I can't change that person's feelings. I felt I could at least get understanding, but sometimes that doesn't even work. Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever wanted someone to just understand you? Or depending on the situation, you wanted them to at least understand where you are coming from? And did you notice the peace that you've lost trying to get understanding?
In order for me to maintain my peace, I had to understand that not everyone will get me nor will they care neither. And that's okay. I couldn't make this person understand me even if I tried to convince this person a thousand times. Would that person take advantage of the situation and truly listen or only care about how they're feeling in the moment and don't care to change it? Whatever they decide shouldn't affect you. I let what I couldn't control affect me. But I love how God gives us greater revelations as to how to maintain our peace in understanding that he takes care of everything. Even our smallest situations that we may feel God brushes off. Nope. He takes care of that too. He gives you peace too about other circumstances you may have tried to take control over as well. He allowed this situation to happen to remind me that he's still in control and that the only person that really understands us is him. And he's the only one that will fully understand you.
You are unique in your own special way and that keeps peace running through your veins when you accept that you're God's child who has no control of the things we know God can only do. We know that peace runs through our veins when we let God have all of our situations. When we accept that everyone isn't meant to be in our lives the way we intend certain people to, for that we can give God praise for revealing who isn't there for us. Whatever it is in your life, I pray that you give it to him to maintain the peace that he gives to you.
You deserve to be at peace and I pray these few ways helped you be mindful of how to maintain your peace. Sure, you may have other ways too that helps you to maintain your peace, go for that. Never allow anyone or anything take away your peace. I was at my breaking point and was tired of my peace always being disturbed by something unexpected and small. But even when it'll still happen, I can fight back, protecting my peace the best way I can possible. Let us maintain our peace. In Jesus Name' Amen.
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