Peace

How many of you are anxious?

Being stressed is the story of my life right now, I feel like I just keep being asked to handle one more thing. It almost feels like I’m in the middle of the biggest juggling act and am just trying to keep all the objects in the air. As a public speaker, you would think I would know how to handle nerves. But anxiety still gets to me constantly. Whenever I’m preparing to face people I basically just repeat Taylor Swifts lyrics in my head, “You need to calm down, you need to calm down.” People keep asking me how I don’t freak out in debate rounds, how I can appear confident, if there’s a way to calm down when you’re nervous. You know what I figured out? Being told to calm down or that there's, “nothing to worry about” really doesn’t help you. Because that’s not what matters. You will never have confidence in what's about to happen simply because someone told you to. Confidence comes from peace. I really want to share what God has put on my heart recently and the ways He has comforted me when I was struggling. I want to talk about peace, the kind of peace that quiets anxiety and provides calm in chaos.

This kind of feeling starts with having peace in who you are.

And I know that sounds so cheesy, very fakely motivational like something you see on a cat poster right? You know something like, “Believe in who you are”. But seriously, its true. If you don’t have peace in who you are you going to be stressed out. Your identity is foundational to everything else you do, and realizing that you are already safe and loved by God removes so much stress. There is a verse that I was obsessed with last year and still am today, and I would say this before I went into any of my speeches or in the middle of debate rounds. I started writing it everywhere I could because it helped me remember who I am and give me peace. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And this life I live now in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” This is my identity. Friends, we are His. We never have to question who we are, never have to worry about being unloved. Nothing can separate us from Him. And if this is your identity you have no reason to be anxious, nothing will ever change who you are in Him. This is peace. All your sins are washed away, your past cant be used against you, you are His masterpiece. Your identity in Him is the most important thing about you, and because it is secure you have no reason to be anxious or stressed or worried. Christ is living in you now and so you can have peace with who you are. 

Since we have been crucified with Christ, this life really isn’t ours; it’s God’s to use for His glory. If we have peace in our identity then we can have peace in our circumstances. “The life we live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God.” We must have faith that He has control over everything that affects us. That doesn’t mean that life is going to be easy. God isn’t an umbrella, he doesn’t stop the rain and the hardships from touching us. Rain falls on the just and the unjust. Peace doesn’t mean that our boat won’t be rocked in the storm, it does mean that He will sustain us in those moments. He will be the anchor for our soul. When we pray for, “Peace that surpasses all understanding”, this is what we pray for.

Life is hard. Life hurts. It beats us to our knees. It makes us want to escape. To cope with this pain, everyone turns to different places. We seek the things that make us happy or numb the pain or at least distract us. But the only comfort we will ever find is in God. He is the God of peace and gives us peace that we can’t even understand. This idea of having a peace that you cant understand is mind blowing for me. I’ve often wondered, why do I believe in that? Why should you believe in something you can’t understand, something other people cant see? There are solutions that we can see and people do understand, why don’t we turn to those things when our world is rocked or we are shaking with fear? Why run to God? I can’t answer that for you, I can only tell you why I do. I believe in peace greater than understanding because sorrow may last the night, but joy comes in the morning. Because my sins are forgiven. Because He blesses His people. Because He gives us more than we could ever ask or think. This is why I can believe in things I don’t understand. I know that His hope is an anchor for my soul, whether I’m anxious or upset He is there sustaining me. My life is His, I trust Him, so I can have peace in my circumstances.

Knowing who I am in Christ and that He is always in control gives me peace in my identity and circumstances. Lastly, we need to have peace with our future. Not only are our circumstances in His hands, but the result of them is His as well. The last part of Galatians 2:20 talks about Jesus’ love for us and that He gave Himself for us. If He loved us then, He will never stop loving us. He will secure for us a hope and a future, He is working all things for His good. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." This verse comes right after a long description of God's power and control over His people. When we are anxious we need to just be still and recognize that the outcome is in God’s hands. Not only that, but the outcome will involve us having a better relationship with our savior. Our struggles bring us closer, our anxiety makes us run to Him and shows us that we can’t handle it on our own.

The moral of what I want to say is this: Taylor Swift was right. You need to calm down. But where she doesn’t provide the solution, the Bible does. We can know a peace that surpasses all understanding. That comes by having peace in who we are, what we’re going through, and our future’s. I am praying that you all have this peace today. Whatever happens in your life that terrifies and shocks you, please don’t forget that you are His. 

Galatians 2:20. 

Read it. 

Live it.