By Lois Hewitt

My FB feed is full of nice little quotes that are designed to help you achieve peace in your life. Some of the suggestions include getting rid of clutter, setting boundaries, reading a good book and lots of other ideas.  These are all good things to do but do they bring lasting peace?  I ask because you can declutter all you want, it’s not likely to always stay that way. You can set boundaries but sometimes when you do that you feel bad.  Reading a good book is amazing but I get stressed when I am close to finishing a good book. 

Life has a sneaky way of taking all your lists and organization and tossing it out the window. Things happen unexpectedly.  The other night I went to bed with prayers of gratitude and woke up with an unexplained panic attack.  This happens. So how do you get lasting peace?  Through Jesus Christ.

Now hear me out before you start thinking that I drank the Kool-aid.  The Bible tells us that we will be given peace for all things. Does that mean just when the house is clean? No. Or when the bank account is full? No. It means God will give us peace in the good and the not so great times.  So how does that manifest into our lives? By making a decision in our hearts to have peace. When it starts to falter, which it will from time to time, fall to your knees in prayer.

Most of my life I lived not knowing peace, momentary happiness but not profound peace. When I did feel peace, I had a death grip on it.  I didn’t want to let go of it and that, in and of itself, destroyed the peace.  One day I gave all my worry and fear to God and accepted His ways instead of mine and slowly peace washed over me. Not 100% of the time but it gets better everyday.  The only way I have found to have real peace is with a relationship with Jesus.

Life won’t be all cookies and cream, but you will find He gives you the strength you need in the difficult times and that builds peace. Knowing you are not alone in the darkness. Jesus is real and He loves us no matter what our pasts look like. He is faithful and is the bringer of peace.  I have seen it in my life. why not try Jesus?  True peace is a gift beyond measure.