Is Organization the Priority?
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. (Colossian 3:17)
We all need a certain level of organization to help us function in the whole of life—to get things done, to find things when we need them, to maintain a level or order in the home that helps us to function well.
[tweetthis]Life is just better when you don’t have to move a pile of laundry in order to get in bed.[/tweetthis]
Some of us need more or less structure than others. Some folks (not naming names here) have great need for order, but struggle with the practical skills and habits to maintain an organized environment. Others can be like Martha Stewart on steroids, slavishly bound to standards of perfection that rival any cover of a home magazine.
Order helps us to be productive.
God is a God of order—process, roles, and relationships. Order to the steps. Orderly systems are an aspect of His nature and His creation. In our homes, when there isn’t a functional level of order, chaos can run rampant. Quickly. In God’s design, motivation and relationships take priority over process.
When disorder takes over…
[tweetthis]Chaos breeds stress and provokes feelings of being out of control. [/tweetthis]I am often amazed at how fast pesky little piles of clutter grow and multiply. A good chore routine can fall by the wayside as busy schedules make it easy to neglect the smaller tasks that can wait until later.
[tweetthis]Sometimes later is a long time coming…[/tweetthis]
When disorder reigns, we can struggle with self esteem because things are a mess, the kids are misbehaving, and important details slip through the cracks. We can become cranky and impatient as frustration overshadows good intentions.
Order and peace provide a place for families, personalities, and relationships to grow.
Remember that we serve God through blessing our families and the attitude we have is important: Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men. Colossians 3:23
When we keep this verse in mind, the mundane tasks like folding laundry, preparing meals, and helping with homework take on a larger significance.
How does order help your family to grow?
The Can’t-Get it-Together-Guide to Home Organization
![564832_10151126445164482_891235351_n[1]](https://b2071576.smushcdn.com/2071576/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/564832_10151126445164482_891235351_n1.jpg?lossy=1&strip=1&webp=1)
You know, I am very good at being disorganized. In fact, I just might be down right brilliant at it. What can I say, I am gifted. My husband often tells me so. Though I don’t really think it is a compliment.
Well, the drawback to being disorganized is that at some point out of sheer survival or necessity, you have to get it together. <Tweet this.
So for me, organizing works a little like this:
The Crazy Cycle
You bump along, getting by. Some days go well. Others…not so much.
With busy schedules, things slowy distentegrate into some level of chaos.
Then comes the day of no turning back.
You open the closet door and a ten pound weight falls on you head. You forget that today is early dismissal and end up leaving your child stranded in the carpool line at school. You show up on the wrong day for an appointment. When disorganization rises up its ugly head and bites you, out of desperation you have your come-to-Jesus moment.
You baton down the hatches, straighten up the closet, power clean the house, and go overboard in trying to fix all that is not going well. You have a field day with your neighbor’s label maker. Slowly, life returns to a sane level of chaos. All is right with the world and all the laundry is put away.
Organizational Bliss
You cruise along for a while, basking in your new -found organizational bliss. Life goes smoothly…until things begin to unravel.
Sound familiar anyone?
Just because you may have your moments of frustration with organization, I’d like to share with you a few of my best tips.
The Can’t-Get it-Together-Guide to Home Organization
I have three children and a husband, who despite my worthy efforts of training, somehow cannot seem to put things away. Shoes by the front door, pajamas on the kitchen chair, braces rubberbands everywhere. And the biggest nightmare of all—the dreaded kitchen counter—the free for all zone for clutter.
The Swat Method
Don’t Put That There! Swat!
Here’s my best tip for eliminating counter clutter. Don’t let it start. Stand guard over your counter with one of those big plastic spatualas and swat the hand on anyone or anything how tries to put something down on your holy space. Let me tell you. They will learn. Quickly. It only takes a couple of years, well, maybe 15 or so.
The Kid Bedroom Disaster Zone
And how about kids bedrooms? What to do about that disaster zone? I once knew a lady who flipped out because her child had left a lego (just one) under the bed. Just so you are clear on this. That is not me. My house doesn’t look like this all the time, but when it does, I am not above taking a few pictures (the Shame Method…)
So how do you achieve organization in the personal space of a child? What do you do when despite your best efforts, they will not put their stuff away?
For heaven’s sake, the stuffed animals are literally breeding and multiplying before our very eyes. What to do?
Simple.
The trash can method if you’re the House-Nazi type. If you’re more soft hearted, go for the box method. Anything left out is taking the easy way out. Into the box and on to never-never land. If you’re big into systems and rewards, you can make the little guys earn the toys back….
Is Time Really Manageable?
Now another problem area is the schedule—yes…that dirty word: Time management.
Oh mercy, we can get into some trouble with this one. Remember the kid left at school? Earned mother of the year award with that one. Or how about the time I left my teen stranded…on the morning of her AP English exam senior year? How was I to know her brother took the car that day…? A small scheduling snafu and miss-communication can go a long way to creating stress and chaos, can’t it?
The One-Thing-a-Day Schedule
The never-work fix for this one is this: simply schedule one thing a day. No more. If there’s only one thing, you can’t really get too confused, right? Just forget all about selling those girl scout cookies and the thirty-nine other items on your list.
Too bad if you’re out of cheerios and diapers, it’s not on your one-item-for-the-day list.
You’ll be amazed at what a breeze your schedule becomes when you don’t fill it up with all that extra stuff. Just tell your child that science fair project will simply have to wait until next Thursday. I’m sure the teacher will understand!
So the next time the roof is caving in and you thing you’re going to fall apart, whip out these Never Work Strategies of Home Organization and give it a try.
What’s your best Never-Work tip?
If you enjoyed chuckling with this post, check out these posts on home and family humor:
Six Never-Work Strategies for Winning the Battle of the Clean Kitchen Counter
Winning the Battle of Kitchen Counter Clutter
Still More? You Gotta Be Kidding!
One Anothering–Do you ever Just Get Tired of it?
Had Your Vision Checked Lately? The Gift of Spiritual Sight.
“Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ” (Hebrews 2:8b ESV).
Setting aside His glory, the palpable evidence of His God-Presence, Christ entered fully into the human experience. Fully God, yet completely human. It boggles the mind to truly focus on the cosmic leap that Jesus made in becoming a man.
He sacrificed the unthinkable; I struggle to pay attention to what He says. Christ suffered with agony deep as payment for my callous sin; too often I neglect his sacrifice, my great salvation. Christ experienced every temptation known to man, and is able to help me overcome temptation; many days I don’t even try to resist temptation. This book of Hebrews is a word to discouraged believers, who had a tendency to take salvation lightly, those who neglected to truly follow Christ.
Under His Feet
Using the Old Testament writings (Psalm 8:4-6), the writer of Hebrews demonstrates the both the humanity and the authority of Jesus. As a man, Jesus, like us, is made a little lower than the angels; yet He is crowned with glory and honor. God has placed all things in subjection to the authority of Christ (Hebrews 2:6-8). There is nothing, not one soul, not one rock, not one day that is not subject to Christ. How hard our independent hearts can strain against the Lordship of Christ.
Verse 8 continues, “But now we do not yet see all things subject to Him.” I look around and see the arrogant rebellion of cultures clashing hard against the love of God. Disbelief multiplies rampant, stirred on by the political machines of our day. I look within, discovering a heart too easily bent toward independence and self-promotion. So much that we do not yet see with eyes earth-bound by sin: A whole kingdom to come, ushered in on the backs of the faith of men. Future glory. <Tweet this.>
“A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His presence.” AW Tozer (The Pursuit of God).
All the difference.
But.
We do see Him.
And that makes all the difference.
Standing in the gap between this moment and eternity is Jesus, the One who calls us brethren. The One who has entered our humanity, experiencing our suffering and temptation. Present in our waiting world, we can see Him now. [tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#Jesus #Insight”]Yet how do we see what cannot be seen? Like squinting into the wind, we cannot physically see Christ.[/tweetthis]
Seeing what cannot be seen
The word blepo, means to look at (literally or figuratively), behold, perceive, regard, and to take heed. This is a spiritual seeing with the eyes of the heart, a Holy Spirit given clarity of insight, a resonance of perception—a grasping of the mind and understanding of the will.
Using this same word, Jesus often talked about the blessing of spiritual sight:
“But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance” (Matthew 13:16-17 MSG).
Eyes that don’t see.
Contrast this with Paul’s quoting of Isaiah in Acts 28:26:
“Go to this people and say to them, You will indeed hear and hear with your ears but will not understand, and you will indeed look and look with your eyes but will not see [not perceive, have knowledge of or become acquainted with what you look at, at all]” (Acts 28:26 AMP).
This Spirit-given sight comes through faith:
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”#Faith”]“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NASB).[/tweetthis]
As we continue to grow in faith, God works to sharpen our spiritual sight. Understanding and seeing intertwine as Christ reveals Himself to us. I’m so grateful, for I certainly cannot make myself see more clearly–it is a grace-gift fromGod.
How’s your spiritual sight? Is it time to get your vision checked? Ask God to continue to sharpen your awareness of His presence today.
You Can Find Peace: A Summary of Peace Verses
Finding Peace in Everyday Life: A Journey Through the Peace Series
When life feels noisy and overwhelming, peace can seem like the one thing always out of reach. That longing for calm in the middle of stress is what first inspired me to write the Peace Series here on the blog.
What began as a handful of reflections has grown into a reader-favorite collection of posts, all centered on one theme: God’s peace is not a fleeting feeling—it’s a steady gift He offers in every season of life.
Over the years, I’ve heard from so many of you that these short devotionals and practical reflections helped you breathe a little deeper, trust God a little more, and remember that His presence brings peace when circumstances do not. Because of your response, this original series later became the inspiration for the updated Habits of Peace Summer Series (2025) on the Habits of Hope Podcast.
But before we get to the new content, let’s revisit the heart of this earlier series.
Why We Need Peace
Stress, change, uncertainty, or even the daily grind can leave us unsettled. God’s Word reminds us again and again that His peace is meant to guard our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7). These posts explore what that looks like in the real world—when the laundry piles up, when anxiety presses in, and when you’re simply tired of trying to hold it all together.
What You’ll Find in the Original Peace Series
Instead of a complicated formula, each post points to simple practices and biblical truths that nurture peace:
- Need a Little Peace?
- God’s Word + Obedience + Peace
- When Peace Gets Away: My Struggle with Anxiety
- Bring on the Peace
- Believing God: The Rest of Peace
- The Lesson of Letting
Together, these posts trace a journey of learning to notice God’s presence, surrender burdens, and let His peace settle into the everyday moments.
Moving Forward: The Habits of Peace Series
Because this series resonated with so many readers, I returned to it in 2025 with a fresh look. The new Habits of Peace Summer Series takes these themes deeper, offering short podcast episodes designed as a “soul reset.” It’s about cultivating peace not just in big spiritual moments but in ordinary daily rhythms—prayer, perspective, and practical habits that train our hearts to rest in Christ.
If you enjoyed the original posts, I’d love for you to explore the updated series and let it encourage you all over again. Listen, read, or watch in the updates 2025 Habits of Peace Series:
-
- 40.Need a Little Peace? A Simple Habit to Notice When Peace is Missing
- 41.How to Pursue Peace God’s Way: A Simple Habit to Calm Your Soul
- 42.Peace is a Person: How to Embrace Calm in the Presence of Christ
- 43.How to Find Perfect Peace When You Feel Stressed (Isaiah 26:3)
- 44.One Peaceful Habit to Respond with Grace When You’re Angry
- 45.How to Let Go of Control and Let Peace Rule in Your Heart
- 46.Peacemaker vs Peacekeeper? How Jesus Calls Us to Respond to Conflict
- 47.Why Do I Keep Losing My Peace-Even When I’m Trying to Trust God?
- 48.How to Feed Your Soul and Grow Lasting Peace (Galatians 5:22)
- 49. Live in the Overflow: How to Experience God’s Peace Every Day (Romans 15:13)
A Final Word
Peace doesn’t come from finally getting life under control. It comes from the steady presence of God, who promises to be with us in every season. My prayer is that these words—whether from the original series or the new one—will remind you that His peace is always closer than you think.
Pass this post on to everyone you know who needs a little peace.
Peace be with you,
Ginger
Bring on the Peace
This post is part of my original Peace Series—one of the most loved collections on the blog. The timeless truth here is simple: peace isn’t about having life under control, it’s about learning to steady your thoughts on God. Because so many readers resonated with these posts, I’ve refreshed the series in 2025 with the Habits of Peace Summer Series on the Habits of Hope Podcast. In this new collection, you’ll find short, practical episodes that build on these same ideas with fresh rhythms and encouragement for today.
So let’s revisit where it all began: how to bring on the peace when stress and distraction try to crowd it out.
Perfect peace.
Wouldn’t that be nice? In today’s world, we can find lots of reasons to let stress push aside peace. Our culture has lots of formulas for peace, or at least lots of ways to make us feel better. Try this, do that, buy this entice advertisements. The internet is filled with articles that promise 3 Easy Steps to making ourselves better, thinner, smarter, or richer. All of this beat-stress-feel-good about yourself stuff may be helpful to an extent, but it falls short when it comes to delivering perfect peace.
And that’s what we really want, isn’t it?
Sometimes we don’t even know perfect peace is what we are longing for.
Peace–it’s a mind thing.
Perfect peace has everything to do with what’s going on in our minds. Processing an average of 70,000 thoughts a day, the human mind is an amazing thing. Isn’t it interesting that God tells us that the content of our thoughts relates to the condition of our peace?
When it comes down to it, our minds cannot generate peace. It is more a matter of how we use our minds that help or hinder. The steadfast of mind–this is the condition, the mental posture that enables us to receive the blessing that God provides–the peace of His Spirit.
Be aware of what you are thinking about. “Don’t concentrate on your problems; keep your mind on Jesus and His good plan or your life.” (Joyce Meyer)
Steady does it.
We often think of steadfast as meaning strong and steady, but surprisingly, the meaning of this Hebrew word means to lean upon or take hold of. I had always looked at this verse in terms of trying to accomplish the impossible, or at least like trying to swim upstream. Sometimes holding my thoughts steady can seem impossible, so I am grateful that this verse is talking more about God’s ability.
Leaning on God, I can depend on Him to provide the mental self-control that I so often lack. It is the turning, depending on God that opens the door to receive the soul peace He offers.
The keeping of God.
When God keeps our minds in perfect peace, He guards, protects, and maintains. In and of my own efforts I can’t hang on to peace longer than a few minutes before something barges into my bliss and ruins the mood. With God, peace isn’t a mood or a feeling, it is a gift.
It comes down to a matter of trust.
The steadfast of mind–our part is to lean our thoughts on God.
He will keep in perfect peace–God’s part is to bring on the peace!
Because–here’s the kicker–the bottom line…
We trust in God.
God’s recipe for perfect peace begins and ends with our participation of bringing our thoughts to Him in trust.
A key factor in trusting God is letting go of my desire to control things- to know the answers and forge the path. This desire for control, to make everything turn out like I think it should, is often the motivation behind my thoughts. Most fears and problems can be reduced to this common denominator of control verses trusting God.
When we choose to turn our thoughts to God’s faithfulness, we can let go of the mental and physical striving to fix, solve, find, force, and make things turn out.
Calm Seas.
James speaks to this relationship between trusting and doubting.
James writes, “for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6b-8 NASB).
We’ve all experienced mental and emotional sea-sickness that comes from that back and forth effort of worry and doubt. How good to know that God’s grace covers our instability of faith when we turn our thoughts to Him.
Identify bad mental habits.
So when bad mental habits, such as doubting, complaining, resenting, arguing, or controlling begin to steal your peace, turn your thoughts to God,
“…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” (Hebrews 12:2).
What mental habits are stealing your peace today?
Been blessed by what you’ve read today? Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss any posts. We can all use a little more peace, so pass this post along to a friend today.
Enjoy the Full Habits of Peace Series (2025)
40.Need a Little Peace? A Simple Habit to Notice When Peace is Missing
41.How to Pursue Peace God’s Way: A Simple Habit to Calm Your Soul
42.Peace is a Person: How to Embrace Calm in the Presence of Christ
43.How to Find Perfect Peace When You Feel Stressed (Isaiah 26:3)
44.One Peaceful Habit to Respond with Grace When You’re Angry
45.How to Let Go of Control and Let Peace Rule in Your Heart
46.Peacemaker vs Peacekeeper? How Jesus Calls Us to Respond to Conflict
47.Why Do I Keep Losing My Peace-Even When I’m Trying to Trust God?
48.How to Feed Your Soul and Grow Lasting Peace (Galatians 5:22)
49. Live in the Overflow: How to Experience God’s Peace Every Day (Romans 15:13)
When Peace Gets Away: My Struggle with Anxiety
This post was where my journey with anxiety first found voice—and eventually led to writing Holy in the Moment. Years before the book, I sat in a doctor’s office besieged by a hyperthyroid diagnosis, unable to sleep, and gripped by relentless fear. It was in those raw and anxious moments that Philippians 4:6–7 became my lifeline, and that transformation became the seedbed for both this original Peace Series and the pages of my book.
Because this story has resonated with so many of you, it also inspired the Habits of Peace Summer Series (2025) on the Habits of Hope Podcast—a fresh companion series offering short, daily rhythms to steady our souls in real life. So let’s begin here, in the honest place of fear and trust, and then head over to discover practices that bring God’s peace into your everyday, just like they did for me.
God’s peace is beyond our ability to truly understand, yet it arrives with the power to protect, to guard our hearts and our minds, safe in the hand’s of Jesus.
Our crazy heart, the seat of our feelings, responds to peace and the mind, interprets peace. In this verse, there is a specific route to peace that involves refusing to give in to worry and choosing to pray instead.
I don’t know about you, but I frequently do the praying, but have trouble with the Not-Worrying. I am grateful that God does’t put a qualifier on our prayer, He just tells us to have the faith to ask Him for everything that we need.
Yes for me, the hardest part is this be-anxious-for-nothing way of living. You see, I happen to be very good at worrying. It is one of the few things that I just might be exceptional at… Anxiety and I have a track record, a history.
Anxiety Robs us of Peace
Years ago, I sat in a bare, utilitarian Dr’s office, checking on lab results. “No one called you?” asked a rather frantic nurse. She explained to me that my thyroid test (six months old) indicated that I had Graves Disease, a hyper-thyroid autoimmune disease. My first thought was, I am moving three small children across the country in three weeks, I can’t be sick.
I don’t have time to be sick.
I didn’t matter.
I was tested, diagnosed, and medicated, then release to move my merry way. “This isn’t so bad,” I thought as packers loaded up the truck and we readied our van for the cross-country trip. A few weeks later, as we pulled up to our new home in Monterey, CA, the imbalance of my hormonal system tipped to a place called uncontrollable. Plunging down the incline of a thyroid-induced roller coaster, blood pressure and adrenaline flooded my system and it was months before I felt anything close to calm.
It was months before my hands stopped shaking.
No Peace
Fear marched in with a take-all vengeance. A persistent feeling of dread plagued my days as we got settled and I tried to take care of our three little peeps. Peace a distant memory, I stopped sleeping and my nights were filled with a useless energy that kept me pacing and unfocused. No matter what I tried, I could not turn off my mind or my feelings.
6 weeks later I was a basket case–afraid to go out and afraid to stay in.
Afraid of being afraid.
Afraid of nothing specific.
Afraid of everything.
Unable to eat and no longer able to drive a car, I worried I would never know peace again. By the time my doctor decided to radiate my thyroid, destroying the tissue, my uptake was at 95%.
It is a humbling and frightening thing when your sense of sanity and well-being are as fragile as numbers on a lab report. In this strange and difficult time, God surrounded me with sweet friends, He brought His Word to life and helped me through. These were days that I hung on with all my might, waiting for God to bring me through the waters of upheaval.
Peace Lessons
During these anxiety-filled days and nights, Philippians 4:6-7 was a verse I repeated often. I wrote it, journaled it, prayed it, meditated on it, repeated it, yelled it…
Sometimes God takes us through things so that we can learn on the deep level of experience (Click to tweet). There comes a time when it is not enough to say it, or even think we believe it. Moments come when temptation pounds against belief, and we experience God in a new way as He provides for needs, ministers comfort, infuses strength, and lends us miracles. He brings us through.
He is with us.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you” (Isaiah 43:2).
belief is forged iron-strong into our core.
Lesson upon lesson,
layer upon layer,
struggle to victory, He is ever faithful. (Click to Tweet).
In the fire of hard things, God builds faith, and we begin to know the relationship between prayer that is the deep cry of the heart and the peace of God. Though my deepest struggle with anxiety had a hormonal cause, anxiety and worry are unwelcome visitors that show up from time to time. Regardless of the cause, the effect is the same:
Anxiety robs us of peace like no other.
God showed me, “When you are anxious, your heart’s emotional attention is on the problem, the need, the uncertainty rather than being fixed on Me. When you look at the storm, the storm is what you will see. When your mind is stayed on Me, you will know the perfect peace that grows out of trusting me and is evidence of My Presence within you. I AM your peace.”
Be anxious for nothing.
But in everything…
What is your everything today?
Life After Anxiety
Fast forward to 2025—life looks very different now. My kids are grown and married, and I’ve stepped into the joy of being a Gigi. Along the way, I published Holy in the Moment, helped launch a nonprofit for military women (Planting Roots), and served as senior editor for the first seven Planting Roots books. I’ve also stepped into podcasting with the Habits of Hope Podcast, continuing to share encouragement and truth for everyday life.
I still experience moments of anxiety, but it no longer rules my life. I’m deeply grateful for God’s healing work and for the blessing of a grace-based Christian counselor who helped me understand my journey and develop healthy ways to navigate my emotions.
That healing journey has shaped everything I’ve written and spoken about since 2015. Whether through books, blog posts, or podcasts, my heart is to keep pointing others toward the steady hope and peace only Christ can give.
Catch the full Updated Habits of Peace series on the blog and the podcast!
Habits of Peace Episodes
-
- 40.Need a Little Peace? A Simple Habit to Notice When Peace is Missing
- 41.How to Pursue Peace God’s Way: A Simple Habit to Calm Your Soul
- 42.Peace is a Person: How to Embrace Calm in the Presence of Christ
- 43.How to Find Perfect Peace When You Feel Stressed (Isaiah 26:3)
- 44.One Peaceful Habit to Respond with Grace When You’re Angry
- 45.How to Let Go of Control and Let Peace Rule in Your Heart
- 46.Peacemaker vs Peacekeeper? How Jesus Calls Us to Respond to Conflict
- 47.Why Do I Keep Losing My Peace-Even When I’m Trying to Trust God?
- 48.How to Feed Your Soul and Grow Lasting Peace (Galatians 5:22)
- 49. Live in the Overflow: How to Experience God’s Peace Every Day (Romans 15:13)
God’s Word + Obedience = PEACE.
To have peace, or not to have peace…
All too often, that is the question, isn’t it? When we’re searching for peace, what is it, exactly, that we’re looking for? For some, this may seem like a stupid question…but if you’ve ever been caught in a whirlwind of conflict or anxiety, if you’ve ever been plagued by a restlessness in your soul, you’ve grappled with the question. You know that peace can be hard to define and even harder to obtain.
God knows we need peace.
In fact, words on peace move consistently throughout the Bible, from Old Testament to New. From the first act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden and ending with the millennial reign of Christ, God consistently speaks to our need for peace.
He acts to provide this peace that we need.
The Bible states that those who have God’s word, or law, have peace. When we embrace God’s ways, one of the by-products of obedience is the blessing of peace. Conversely, when we choose to disobey God’s ways, one of the pathologies of sin is lack of peace. Most of us have smoke detectors installed in our homes to warn us of the danger of fire. Programmed to sound a sleep-jarring alarm, detectors indicate the presence of smoke. In much the same way, lack of peace, (in whatever form you experience it) provides a warning, calling our attention to a problem.
God’s Word + Obedience = PEACE.
In reality, the formula for peace is simple. Not easy, but rather simple.
Psalm 25:10 tells us “All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.” God’s ways are good, and obedience brings many blessings, one of which is sweet peace. When you know deep in your soul you are on the right track, peace rules. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you... ” (Colossians 3:15-16a).
When we veer off course, choosing to go our own way, lack of peace shows up in a myriad of ways–guilt, remorse, unease, bitterness, resentfulness, discontent, or fear. We’ve all done it. We have experienced it. Many of us have some area of sin that keeps coming around, a frequent temptation.
Prone to Sin
Do any of these words sound familiar?
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6).
For me, this is an area that I struggle to follow God’s instructions. When my feelings are hurt, I have a hard time letting it go. My sinful tendency is to keep a record of offenses, to mull them over, build cases, and re-hash the whole thing over and over. Let me tell you, this doesn’t make for peace in my heart.
Somehow, I will usually turn the offense in on myself, and the emotional turmoil goes from bad to worse. A bad cycle that doesn’t bode well for healthy relationships, God has had to remind me over and over again to love as He loves. I let it go, forgive and finally put the offense away, and peace returns.
How about you? What are those areas in life in which sinful thoughts, attitudes, or actions want to suck you in and rob you of peace? Now I’m not asking for true confessions here, but think about it. Identify those hot spots and do the following:
It’s worth it–all day, every day. When we leave sin unchecked, peace is the first blessing to run out the door. So here’s to embracing peace today.
Be sure to like this post if you have struggled with overcoming sin and finding peace. You may be able to encourage someone who needs this reminder.
Guest Posting Today on The Stream’s Edge
Hi there friends. Just a quick happy Sunday hello. Hope you have enjoyed God’s peace this weekend. I invite you to click over to The Stream’s Edge, where I am guest posting today. Join me for Three Easy Steps for Listening to...
When Work and Ministry Meet.
Today we are continuing focus from yesterday. If you missed yesterday’s post, you may want to check this out first: Maximize the Overlap Between Gifts, Work, and Calling.
Faithful in our work.
Let’s take a look at David, the young shepherd boy, out on the hillsides tending sheep and fending off lions and bears. God used his experiences as a young boy to teach and train David to courageously fight in defense of others. Through the daily experience of fulfilling his responsibilities, he learned to be confident in both God and himself. Through his work, God developed the heart of a servant-shepherd as David learned to act decisively when a threat is present.
Prepared to act.
Shepherding prepared David to answer God’s call to defend God’s name and fight the giant Goliath. Call rose up out of a heart passionate for God, out of the indignation that anyone would insult the Living God. In essence, God used David’s experience and training to play a vital role in fulfilling God’s call to lead the nation of Israel.
How about us?
When we are faithful to follow God in our daily responsibilities and vocational work, He can prepare us to use our gifts and experience to accomplish His purposes. What if David had not seen the connection between what God had trained him to do in the past with the need before him in the present? What if David had thought his skills only applied to defending sheep? Remember that herding sheep was one of the most lowly professions–not the stuff great heroes were known for.
How about you?
What is God doing in your life, through your life experience, your training, your gifts, and your calling? Do you see the overlap in your life? For a long time I kept thinking of spiritual gifts only in terms of teaching Bible study and ministering directly to the body of Christ. I had my life neatly organized into separate boxes–personal, professional, spiritual.
Now, when I teach my water fit classes, I ask God to make my work a blessing to those in my class. I bring the same prayerful desire to bring the presence of Christ into all that I do. I ask God to use me to encourage and motivate my clients to aim high and work hard.
This is my friend Dasha Gariepy. An avid horse women and a fun blogger, Dasha has found that sweet spot of joy in sharing her experience and heart for ministry in a non-church setting. She volunteers at Dream Catcher of L.A. Therapeutic Riding Centers. Yesterday she posted these awesome pictures that show this dynamic, joyful place where gifts, calling, work, and ministry meet. Click on Dasha’s name to visit her blog.
There is joy and fulfillment in learning to operate in our spiritual gifts in whatever we are doing, for God is always at work, both inside and outside the church walls. His calling and gifts can become part of who we are, part of how we think, as well as present in what we do!
This picture says it all.
What has happened in your world when work and ministry meet?