“And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 (New Oxford Annotated Bible)
Peace. One moment our spirits are dejected and depressed – the next we are feeling at peace. What changes have occurred to create this difference?
When losses run deep and grief has a longer time frame to complete, we may find ourselves feeling okay one moment and down in the dumps the next.
I have found my spirit and soul fed by the statements of faith, assurance and love I find in the scriptures. It is where I experience God reaching out to me and where I find peace in the midst of any turmoil or tragedy.
There is much I am personally responsible for: challenging negative thinking, reframing self-defeating self talk and changing my focus. I am responsible for taking charge of my life, setting goals, making decisions and working through problems.
But when I am in the midst of traumas, critical losses, uncertainty and pain, I also need the healing Spirit of God.
Grieving our losses enables us to heal, recover and integrate into our life story what has happened. We are molded and expanded by our losses. As we let go and risk being in uncertainty and anxiety, we discover more about ourselves than we could have at any other time. Unwanted change can create a whole new landscape of possibilities and choices we had not been exposed to.
Peace enables us to stay with the ambiguity and insecurity and doubt until we have worked through it.
Peace comes when
• We don’t know the answers and stop asking the questions
• We accept what has happened and choose to move forward
• We don’t have to be perfect – we are okay just as we are
• We rest in God’s assurances
• We allow love to perform its healing power
• We dig deep inside and pull out the strength and resilience that is there
• We make the choice to become responsible and take charge of our life
• We choose to focus on where we are headed and not where we have been
It is then that peace will energize, motivate, encourage and lead us to a new path that holds promise of purpose and meaning.
©2013 Marlene Anderson