Uneasy? Here’s How to Find Peace
At the core of my being is a person who is subject to doubt and fear, insecurity and shame.
I constantly struggle with my perceived inadequacies. I’m tormented as I compare myself to others. Silence and solitude only afford me an opportunity to dwell on the trials dotting the landscape of my life. That frustration and uneasiness only build as I compare my perceived failures to the successes of others.
Many of us look back on the year that was, and we see missed opportunities and unmet expectations. We try to look forward to the promise of new opportunities, but dread of the unknown looms over us.
That’s not the way life should be for the believer.
GRACE SO BROAD
The One who calms the raging seas is the same One who calms my troubled heart. When unease goes to war on my heart and mind, God graciously reminds you and me to rest in him.
His grace is so broad that he cares not only for the salvation of my soul but also for the sanity of my day-to-day life.
“His grace is so broad that he cares not only for the salvation of my soul but also for the sanity of my day-to-day life.”
In the unsteady seasons of life, I try my best to call back to mind all the evidence of God’s greatness and glory, so that my unsteady self will remember the unshakable foundation I have in God.
Here are three truths I keep returning to that might serve you when you’re in need of peace.
1) GOD’S WORDS ARE THE ONLY WORDS THAT GIVE LIFE
My whole life, I have languished underneath the weight of others’ words. The praise of others can be a drug. I often find my heart craving for and chasing after the admiration of others—even when those words fail to fill me (and they always fail). People’s attacks and criticisms cut me to the core of my identity and worth.
When I live off others’ esteem of who I am, I can only feel as good or bad as the last conversation I had. Jesus spoke directly against that unsettled foundation for a life in Matthew 7. He tells his disciples to build the foundation and fabric of their lives on the words of God. To chase fulfillment through any other words, he tells them, will leave them beaten down by the storms of life.
“Our hope for peace is not in the latest self-help craze or the end of a pandemic.”
God’s words are different than any other words. His words call people to life and turn the darkness to light (Jn. 1:3–5). His words are the best encouragement to our souls and the perfect means to expose our sin while taking broken men and making them whole (2 Tim. 3:16–17). His Word is my truest guide to keep me from stumbling (Ps. 119:165).
Our hope for peace is not in the latest self-help craze or the end of a pandemic. Our hope for peace can only be built on trusting God and what he has revealed about himself (Prov. 3:5). That’s why, day after day, we have to fill our lives with his words, the words we find in the Bible.
2) GOD’S ASSURING LOVE IS CONSTANT
All of us, on some level, want to be loved. This longing for love isn’t an accident, but a cosmic design. God has crafted us for a loving relationship with Him. But way back in the Garden of Eden, we messed that all up (as we tend to do).
Thinking they were missing out on something, Adam and Eve ate the fruit God had forbidden them to eat (Gen. 3). Thinking God and Moses had abandoned them, the Israelites constructed a calf made out of gold to worship (Ex. 32). Thinking Jesus wouldn’t rise again as he said, the disciples chose to cower in an attic.
God knows our fickle hearts well. He knows how easy it is for us to lose sight of Him. That fickle and wayward heart is why God has filled the pages of Scripture with the promise and proof of his love for us.
His unwavering love toward us puts to death our drive to prove ourselves. We have nothing to prove! We only have a kind God to trust.
3) GOD’S CHURCH GIVES THE SUPPORT I NEED.
When doubt and fear work their worst against me, my tendency is to immediately withdraw from the most life-giving relationships in my life—those in my church family.
Now, I’ll still go to worship. I’ll still serve in the roles God has given me in my local church. But even as I’m physically present, I am emotionally and spiritually walled off from others.
“God has placed me in his church so that I may be built up and built into the spiritual house that reveals his glory to the world.”
The church is not just where I go and consume corporate ministry. It’s not simply where I pick up a role in serving God and others. The church is where I can go and share my insecurities with those who love me with the love of Jesus. Among my church family, there is no expectation to maintain my outward presentation of perfection.
God desires for me to lay my burdens at the feet of my brothers in Christ (Gal. 6:2). To lay my insecurities and doubts at the feet of others—as well as at the Lord’s feet—frees me from my image of perfection that I will never fulfill.
God has placed me in his church so that I may be built up and built into the spiritual house that reveals his glory to the world. He has placed others in my life so that their testimony might encourage me (Rom. 1:12) and that my testimony may be an encouragement to them.
BEAUTIFUL PEACE
There’s a beautiful peace that comes from knowing I’m not alone in the race of faith that lays in front of me. And there’s a great deal of comfort in knowing that God does not author my fear and doubt, but is instead the one who will sustain me through my hardships.
As the Prince of Peace brings calm to my troubled heart, I need to find myself resting in His hands. May I trust that truth—may we trust that truth—even when we doubt everything else.
Daniel Ritchie is a speaker and writer from Huntersville, North Carolina. He is a husband and father of two and the author of My Affliction for His Glory. He is the co-host of the podcast “The Middle with Daniel and Heather Ritchie” and writes at his blog (www.danielritchie.org). You can follow him on Twitter.