The One Thing Your Marriage and Family Can’t Live Without

In Psalm 34:14, the psalmist writes,

Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

So, peace isn’t just going to find us, we have to seek and pursue it EVERY DAY.  But, how do we do this…especially with everything else we are desperately trying to do?

As I write this, I am staring at the mounds…seriously mounds…of laundry on my washer and dryer that has yet to be put away after weeks of travel.  I need to fill out school forms, go to the grocery, call my sweet friends that I haven’t talked to in quite awhile, write thank-you notes, and I would LOVE to plan a weekend away with my hot hubby sans kids, but things have been so CA-RAY-ZEE lately that I come to the end of the day just wanting – no CRAVING – a moment of solitude.  Stillness.  Peace.

I used to feel a bit guilty about this.  I mean, why can’t I just pour out into everybody and everything else and be okay?  Really…who has times for peace these days?

But the more I’ve thought and prayed about this, I have realized that God doesn’t want me to live a life without peace and stillness.  He desires for all of us to have peace FROM HIM and IN HIM.

God is the author and provider of peace, and he actually wants us to have it…not just sometimes, but EVERY SINGLE DAY of our lives.  Psalm 46:10a says,

Be still and know that I am God.

When you feel like everything is falling apart and you don’t know what to do,

be still and know…

When you are burned out and you feel like you have nothing good left to give your family at the end of a hectic day,

be still and know…

When you have worked so hard to create the life around you and suddenly, things just don’t seem to be going in your favor,

be still and know…

When we can take just a moment in our day to be quiet and pray for God to help us have His peace in our lives, He promises to give it to us.  It may not come the way we expect it to, but He will provide it.  We must be still and know that He is God, and God NEVER fails us.

One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:7.  The NIV says it this way,

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I love how the author, Paul, points out that God’s peace is so great and mysterious that is is beyond human comprehension, and not only that, but it protects our hearts AND our minds.

That is precisely why we need it so much.  Life is full of twists and turns, and it seems like the crazier my schedule gets, the less peace I feel within myself and at home.  I don’t want it to be that way.

If we are too busy to pursue peace through a quiet moment of stillness and prayer, then we are too busy period.

I am talking to myself here, and I am hearing it loud and clear.

Are you like me?  Are you craving more peace in your life?  Then, let’s both commit to making time for a quiet moment to pursue God’s peace in our lives.

It may start out as five minutes at the beginning or end of our day…and this is not Bible study time (thought very important and beneficial), this is a special moment to be still and know that He is God – to experience His perfect peace.

Whatever amount of time we spend in pursuit of peace will be time well spent.  And we, along with our families, will reap the massive benefits of the blessing of peace.

Thank you so much for reading, sharing, and responding. Be blessed!