Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or irritated or sore or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret, and be at peace as in the deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble.
~Andrew Murray (1828-1917)
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength.
~ Isaiah 26:3-4
Oh yeah, there are days. There are days when we experience the most profound peace in Him. This peace goes way beyond any human explanation. Words only cheapen the peace He brings to our lives. He has comforted this writer during times that should, most surely, have destroyed a man. It is a peace that is not found by casting anxiety aside. It is a peace that simply cannot be affected by those things that might normally cause us to be anxious.
And then, there are the days when the littlest things serve to take our eyes of the Author and Finisher of our faith. Somehow, it feels like finding peace in Him is a little bit like a tightrope walk, or finding a small item in a large pile of hay.
What is going on here?
We started trying to live at peace.
What?
Yeah, we actually picked up somewhere during the night, morning or early in the day, and said “thanks G_d. I have got this from here.” And we went off into our day to try and apply the beautiful principles our Saviour has imparted in us.
Oops. Epic fail.
Beloved, it is incredibly humiliating to say this. Regardless of the humiliation, it is incredibly true: We are very bad at living life. We have absolutely no idea how to do it. We have an absolutely dismal internal source of motivation, energy and ability – in and of our own selves – to get through our day.
He is abundantly clear throughout His Word, and He communicates this clearly to us in our spirit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (as in no-thing).
We get the idea, though, that if we can just get stuff lined up. If we can just get things going our way, or if people would just return the love we give them – we could find that little space where everything is OK. But, we never really find it. Why is that?
Because that place does not exist.
Peace is found only in one place. Him. But, here is the wonderful truth, He is everywhere. All of life is permeated with Him and the real Life He makes available to us. Peace is not a place apart from all the stress and disappointments of life. Peace is Him, and He is everywhere we look, if we look to Him in spirit and in truth.
Said more simply: He is our peace, and He is everywhere. All we have to do is look to Him. He will provide the peace. And as humiliating as this news may sound, it is both very true and very good news!
For most men the world is centered in self, which is misery: to have one’s world centered in God is peace.
~Donald Hankey (1874-1917)
