How to Find Peace Like a River

"This is what the LORD says--

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

'I am the LORD your God,

who teaches you what is good for you

and leads you along the paths you should follow.

Oh, that you had listened to my commands!

Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river

and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.'"

Isaiah 48:17-18 NLT

It makes me feel better the moment I sit down to observe it's quiet strength.  As the waters flow past my feet I reflect on its mighty power, its faithful supply of water, its steadiness.  There is no panic found there, no worry that the river will dry up and cease to exist, no effort on the river's part to ensure the water will continue to come.  No, there is only a steady calm, a quietness as the millions of drops of water flow faithfully downstream.  And my heart becomes steady and calm as I sink into this serene atmosphere.

I want peace like this river in the midst of the strife that is found as I live life in this broken world.  I want harmony with God and others.  I want tranquility deep within my soul. Is there a way to find such peace?  Yes, it is available by turning away from the sin that comes so naturally to me and by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, the One who took my sins upon Himself so that I might be free from such a burden that leads me to eternal death (1 Peter 2:24,John 3:16, Romans 13:14).  And in Christ I have peace.  Even so, I sometimes lack the peace I crave.  Why?

Good.  "God is good all the time, all the time God is good."

            "God is good, God is great, let us thank Him for this food.  Amen!"

            "Life is hard but God is good!"

There are many slogans plastered on the back of cars, used at the dinner table or boldly proclaim throughout cyberspace, but do I really believe this foundational truth?  Do I live as if God is good? Or is the way I live my life telling a different story, declaring another testimony?

God teaches what is good.  He shows me where I'm off, how I cling to what is destructive and unhealthy, the ways I've learned to cope that are not what He meant for me.  In fact, He uses every situation I encounter, all the garbage I wade through in a typical day to bring about His best for me (Romans 8:28).  Since He is such a beneficial God, I can always trust His lessons and believe in Him as a source for good in my life.  Still, I often find myself straying, getting distracted by alternate messages, or listening to worldly advice that sounds good but is contrary to God's best for me.  I have to remember there is a difference between the good of God and the bad that is found everywhere else.  God is the only source of good (James 1:17).

If I want peace like a river I must be dedicated to only relying on what comes from Him.

Paths.  There are many paths from which to choose.  I usually prefer the easy more populated routes, the common, the well-traveled and worn trail.  Yet I can't choose which way to go based on my own instincts or perspectives (Proverbs 3:5-6).  As one who is saved by the grace of God through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, I have a Shepherd who leads me where He wants me to go.

When I follow the Good Shepherd, I find myself on paths of righteousness that make Him look good and reflect well upon His good name (Psalm 23:3).  The way may be narrow and the going a bit rocky at times, but I will always be headed toward Life when I let Jesus lead (Matthew 7:13-14).  No matter how difficult the journey becomes, I will experience peace in the presence of my Lord and Savior.  I can't wander off the narrow path, away from His lordship, and expect peace.  I will only find discord and strife away from the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

If I want peace like a river I must keep my eyes on Jesus as He leads me down the path that leads to Life.

Listen.  "Pay attention, please!"  It may be one of the most common phrases uttered by school teachers everywhere.  When sitting in a classroom, it's easy for children to become distracted and for young minds to wander off when enduring a lesson.  I have to admit, though, it's not just children that struggle with paying attention.  It's often difficult for me to stay focused on a lesson when I'm listening to a teaching or sermon.  The human mind can easily stray.

For this reason, I must realize I'm prone to drift away from God and miss His directives in my life.  Sometimes I'm simply not paying attention and the message He has for me goes right past me.  Other times I'm too busy and am unable to hear Him over the din of activity.  Then there are the times when I'm afraid to learn what He has for me or I resist finding out what His latest message is for me and I simply ignore Him.  I can't avoid His voice and expect to find peace.  Only in heeding His lessons and submitting to His direction will I find quiet in my heart.

If I want peace like a river I must pay attention to Jesus and listen to His commands.  

Living in relationship with God through repentance and faith in Jesus is the only path to peace.  Still, I have to admit that tranquility and harmony do not always rule my heart.  Why doesn't God protect me from such feelings?  He cannot be mocked, I will always reap what I sow (Galatians 6:7-8).  If I stray away from His indwelling Spirit that teaches me what is good, guides me down the right path, and requires that I listen carefully,  I will sacrifice the peace that comes through Christ.  How do I find peace like a river?  Stick with Jesus, that's how (John 14:27)!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to follow Him closely.

When do I stray away then wonder why I'm filled with strife and anxiety?

How do I listen to the wrong messages?     

Right Path

"Turn my heart toward your statutes

and not toward selfish gain.

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;

preserve my life according to your word.

Fulfill your promise to your servant,

so that you may be feared.

Take away the disgrace I dread,

for your laws are good."

Psalm 119:36-39

I tend to think and act selfishly.  Even my walk with Jesus can be all about me and what I get out of it.  Is there a better way than going after such worthless things?  

Yes, His path is the right one, and it is in stark contrast to the way toward which I gravitate.

Testimonies.  I have a tendency to think like the world, to look for how I can satisfy my own longings for comfort and fulfillment, to obtain all that I want out of life, to find security in the position I've achieved or by the stuff I've attained (1 John 2:16).  While I'm inundated with messages telling me this is the path to success, God has a better way.  His path truly leads to life, and to find the narrow gate through which I enter onto His road, I'll need Him to give me an affinity for His ways (Matthew 7:13-14).

As He changes me, I'll discover I will look for evidence of His love working in me and through me.  While the old me would use these testimonies and His power at work within me as a way to elevate myself so I feel better about who I am and what my position is in life, the new and improved version of me wants more of God because I finally realize that knowing Him and abiding in Him is what brings my heart it's greatest fulfillment.  There is nothing more I need than Him.  Only God can bring me to such a comprehension.

The right path for me to follow is marked out by the evidence of the outworking of His great love. 

Life Source.  My older sister is developmentally disabled.  The more time I spend with her, the more I see myself in her behavior.  The only difference between her and I is that I've learned how to hide my selfish or socially unacceptable behavior while she has not reached that level of development.  In other words, she does what comes naturally without much understanding as to how her actions affect those around her.    

One thing I see is that she is easily distracted.  When she's working on a task, like putting on her jacket, she may get distracted by a piece of paper that is out of place on the table.  She stops what she's doing and focuses on putting that stray paper back where it should be.  Then she may continue in this tidying-up mode until she is reminded that she was putting on her jacket, at which time she finishes the task at hand.

I'm just as easily distracted.  While I may have figured out a way to get around my natural tendency to lose my focus, I'm still quickly drawn away from what is important.  This is no more obvious than in my walk with Christ.  My eyes are attracted to worthless things; to pursuits, possessions and paths that either will not last or will destroy my faith.  I need God to turn my vision away from such foolishness and draw me toward His better way which is my source of life.

The right path for me to follow is His way that turns out to be my source of life.

Good.  I live with a sense of dread, in the shadow of foreboding.  What if I pick the wrong choice, or say the wrong thing, or live in a way that dishonors God?  He'll be mad and may kick me to the curb.  I don't want to lose His favor or my place in His kingdom.  That's a lot of pressure for a mere human to bear.

Thankfully, in Christ Jesus there is no longer such condemnation (Romans 8:1)!  I need not live with the fear of wronging a Holy God, or disappointing my heavenly Father, or failing to live up to His perfect expectation for me.  Through faith in Jesus I am free from the judgment my sins deserve and liberated to walk with His Spirit down the path that pleases Him.  As I keep in step with this indwelling Guide, I'll produce good fruit that lines up with His law (Galatians 5:16-23).  Instead of trying hard to be good and failing miserable, I can live freely in His Spirit as He leads me where He wants me to go.

The right path for me to follow is the good one He leads me down.

It is impossible for me to find the right path on my own since I'm naturally drawn to the way that leads to destruction.  If I want to journey on the road that leads to life, I'll need to look for the evidence of His love as the markers that lead to the right way, to allow Him to direct my attention toward His better way, and to gain a sensitivity to the leading of His Spirit.  In these ways, I'll find the right path for me to follow.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God to lead me where He wants me to go.

How do I tend to go the way that seems best to me?

When do I ignore the gentle promptings of God's guiding Spirit?

It Only Takes a Taste

"O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good!

Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) 

is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him."

Psalm 34:8 AMP

"How will I know he's the one?"  It's a question asked through the ages by young women yearning for their prince, their knight in shining armor, their future husband.  This sentiment also has been applied to God.  People throughout time have wondered, How do I know what the Bible says is true?  How can I be sure God really is good?  What if I put my trust in Him and it's all proved to be a sham, a big cosmic joke?

There is always a certain risk when it comes to matters of faith.  After all, that's what faith is: Believing something is true in the absence of evidence.  While I can see plenty of proof all around of a good God who loves us; the complexity of His creation, so-called coincidences that are just too good to be mere happenstance, a marriage between two people who love each other through thick and thin, it can be argued that I see these things because I know God for myself.  I love Him and have committed my life to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.  I believe so it could be said I only have eyes for Him.  I'm brainwashed, so to speak.

If this is true, then all I can say is what David expressed in today's passage.  "Try God out for yourself and then see all the ways He makes your life better.  You'll never know for sure until You give Him a chance in your own life!"  

What can I expect if I give Him a chance?

Deliverance.  Not from my problems.  Not from hardships.  Not from difficulties.  Submitting myself to God through faith in Jesus Christ will offer another kind of deliverance.  I will find freedom from fear as I begin to relate to God as a child to a loving, powerful and sovereign Father.  If He is my refuge and strength, bigger than any problem or crisis I face, what do I have to fear (Psalm 46:1- 3)?

In addition, shame will be gone as I realize the forgiveness Jesus has secured through His blood sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22), giving me the opportunity to live with the confidence that my sins have not condemned me.  Not only that, but I have hope, even when it seems there is none.  In Christ, the Conqueror, I can possess an optimistic expectation of what is to come.

When I taste and see that the Lord is good I will find true deliverance.

Abundance.  I often wonder what it would be like to grow up in a wealthy home, to have a father with power and influence, resources beyond comprehension, who loved me unconditionally and had the clout to pull strings to provide the best life has to offer.  Then I remember:  I do have a Father like that!

God is as fatherly as they come, doting on His children and lavishing them with gifts beyond compare (1 John 3:1, Matthew 7:9-11, Ephesians 1:3).  His brand of spoiling is best since He tempers it with discipline, giving me the best of both worlds.  I have all that I need and more, plus the benefit of a firm hand when necessary.  In this way I won't be ruined with getting things my way but am secure in His love as a legitimate child (Hebrews 12:7-8).

When I taste and see that the Lord is good I will discover His abundant gifts flowing throughout my life.

Redemption.  There's something special about the love of God.  He has this power to take that which was meant for my destruction, the very thing that was meant to bring me down, what was introduced into my life to hurt me, and transform it.  God's redemptive power is life-altering (Isaiah 61:3).  

Sin, which came into the world through the disobedience of one man, Adam, spread throughout all the earth, corrupting it and twisting it into something unrecognizable from it's original design.  Still, God is able to take me as a sinful being and redeem my life, transforming it from a downward spiral that ends in death to a beautiful journey that takes me to life eternal (Ephesians 1:8, John 3:16).  

Sin was supposed to be the end of all the good that God made, but God had a plan.  Through Jesus, He was able to buy it back with His blood, giving us the power to live as one who is righteous by faith and the hope of it all returning to it's pre-sin state when Jesus returns (Romans 3:22, Revelation 21) .  His resurrection is proof.  

Not only do I have this salvation from the punishment my sins earned me, but even the weakness of my sinful body can be used for good(Romans 6:13)!  How could anything decent or wholesome come from my heart that is corrupted by sin?  Through Christ, it is made new and I can fulfill the good plan He has for me (Ephesians 2:10)!

When I taste and see that the Lord is good I will know His redemptive power for myself.

It may be hard to believe without some kind of physical, tangible confirmation that God exists.  I can't see Him.  I can't touch Him.  I can't hear Him.  How do I know He's not some figment of my imagination?  If I take a risk and try Him out for myself, putting my full weight on Him and testing Him out, I'll find deliverance, abundance, and redemption.  It only takes a taste, and then there is no going back!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to take Him at His word.

When do I demand physical evidence before I'll try God on for myself?

How has God changed my life in ways I can't otherwise explain?