Stealing My Peace: Saying Yes

TL;DR: God already gave me peace. I'm the only one who can steal it.

Sometimes when I have a revelation I don’t sit and write it out right away. Sometimes I sit and think on it for a few weeks until I finally feel the compulsion to get it out. I’ve had one of those revelations brewing, the kind that I have to work through to get a better understanding of. This is going to be a multipart series, as I explore different ways of how I steal my own peace. 

This isn’t something I was even studying or learning to understand, but the Lord has been teaching me about peace lately. He’s been showing me that I am the keeper of my peace. I am the only one who can rob myself of my peace, and He has already made peace available to me. 

This morning I was reading about sacrifice in the Old Testament. Unless you are brand new to the Christian faith, you probably are aware that God asked for sacrifices from his people as and act of worship. God asked for a blood sacrifice, an animal, a spotless, costly, precious animal. God was asking for faith, trust and devotion by requiring the Israelites to give up the best of the best, their most precious commodity to Him. 

After Jesus died and gave the ultimate blood sacrifice, God no longer required animal sacrifice to worship. However, I believe He still asks for sacrifice. He wants our best, our most precious. The things that stretch us, make us vulnerable, the things that require faith. Sacrifice is different for everyone. What is very hard for one person to give is easy for another. Someone may have no problem giving away a large sum of money while others struggle over giving just a little. Some people can easily wake up in the morning to spend time for the Lord, for others it is torture. Some people may easily give time to serve others, while some can’t seem to find a spare moment for the Lord. 

This has been my struggle: finding the time. My time is one of the most precious things to me, because I have so little. It’s easy for me to give in other ways. Oh, you are struggling? Here let me buy you groceries. Oh, you are out of work? Let me get you connected with people looking to hire.

But oh, ask me to just get a cup of coffee and talk. That sounds terrible. Sit and do nothing but talk for an hour? No thanks. I have things to do. 

I can't even tell you how many times I have passed up praying for someone because I didn’t think I had the time. I have neglected getting together with people, because it would take too much time. I have neglected my own husband at times when I should have just laid in bed and cuddled him, but opted for a quickie instead. My time is precious and I am selfish with it. 

So this week the Lord has been talking to me about my peace, and how my own choices affect that peace. When I choose to say no to something I needed to say yes to, I am stealing my own peace. 

Monday I took the time to drive to a friend’s house to drop something off to her. The whole drive out I was telling myself: you can’t stay long. You have a house to clean, dishes to do, groceries to buy, you don’t have the time to just sit and talk. I was preparing the speech in my mind so I could deliver it on arrival. 

However, Holy Spirit gave me a different prompting when I walked in the door. He told me to stay. He told me that both she and I just needed to talk. So I finally sat down, and we talked. We talked for a whole hour longer than I had allotted for in my schedule. 

The conversation wasn’t super deeply profound or eye opening, but when I got back into my car, I felt peaceful. Despite being behind on my “schedule”, I felt great. My soul and spirit had been fed. Just as much as my friend needed someone to talk to, to show that someone cared, I needed it, too. 

I went about my day, checking more to do items off my list, and I then began to realize, I was accomplishing everything I had intended to get done. The house got clean, the dishes got done, the leaves outside got raked. By sacrificing a little time for not just someone else’s well being, but for my own, I got my time back. By giving my time to the Lord for what was important to Him, He gave me back time for the things that were important for me. I got my checklist done AND I felt peace.

God already gave me peace. It’s not something I need to ask for or request. 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. John 14:27

I’ve already got peace, but I am in charge of it. My choices, my actions, with who and how I spend my time all determine how I am managing my peace. The only person that can actually steal my peace, is myself.

Saying no is not the only way I steal my peace, though. Next post we are going to talk about saying yes to things when we shouldn’t!