In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us—that we be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. That is the root of peace. We have that peace when the gracious God is all we seek. When we start seeking something besides Him, we lose it. As Merton said in the last public address before his death, “That is his call to us—simply to be people who are content to live close to him and to renew the kind of life in which the closeness is felt and experienced.
~Brennan Manning
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our Peace, Who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Ephesians 2
Oh beloved, it is true. There are highs and lows to any day. And yet, the problem with the highs and lows is that we mistakenly correspond good and bad with the wrong thing. We have been so tuned to be in obedience to the flesh that we forget that there is a new voice within us.
Him.
So many of us, who are now true believers, grew up in some sort of church. And it is not even wrong, the things we were being taught. G_d surely is in Heaven. And the actual and real place we will inhabit is still being prepared. So, we sometimes felt like G_d was far away, and definitely not close to us.
However, we were also taught that G_d is everywhere. This was better. And this is absolutely true. It is as true as true can be. But the problem with this, is that we did not believe it. We knew that He was everywhere. But we did not include us in the everywhere. We sensed that He was everywhere but right here, with us.
And then He broke through. He showed us how wrong we were. And in seeing how wrong we truly were, we finally repented and believed the Good News. He is here. He is real. And now, in trusting Him alone for it all, He will never leave.
We have, in fact, been brought so near to Him as to be one with Him. He pervades our entire being, But He is most clearly heard in the inner man; in that part of us which is spirit. For our spirit is the most-real part of us, and the part of us which will live forever – with and in Him. He Himself is our Peace.
And this is the Voice within us. Him.
So, back to the thing about days being full of highs and lows. This is true for sure. However, we can find – if we are willing to look – that the things that used to bother us, no longer need to. And the things that we used to excuse and minimize, should and do.
Said more simply: We used to be happy if things went the way we thought they should go. And we were sad if they did not. But now, we find that we can generally be happy all the time. And, we are only grieved when we have wronged another in thought or deed.
Further, we find that the only true joy we find is in giving ourselves completely away. We have come to know, really know, that there is no real peace but to Live in profound unity with Him and to seek, in Strength, to live in unity with others.
Can we see it? We no longer need to listen to the lies of the flesh. We have learned that it never (read not ever) told us the truth. And we now know that His Voice never (read cannot) lie. And we no longer need to take our cues from the circumstances which either satisfy the lusts of, or enrage the impatience of the flesh. We can simply wait, with Him, as eternity unfolds as it should.
So, had a hard day? Maybe you didn’t beloved. Maybe you did. But which voice were you listening to today? Tonight is your night. Time to listen to His and your spirit in the inner man of your being.
