Peace is NOT Understanding.
“I don’t understand why this is happening.”
“How can this be possible?”
“What is the point of this?”
“No good can come from this situation.”
You're not alone if you have said or thought of any rendition of the phrases above.
When you’re walking through a dark tunnel, it’s really really hard to see where you’re at. You have no idea what is around you and you certainly have no idea where the tunnel is leading you.
But then. You reach the end of the tunnel. And looking back, you see that you needed to go through that tunnel to get to where you are.
It’s so much easier to look back on events that have happened to us, trials that we endured, and misfortunes that we faced, and realize, to an extent, what their greater purpose was (we will never know the FULL purpose of what God planned while we are here on Earth, but you get the point).
So, with that in mind, I think that it’s important that we try to keep this mindset before we get through to the other side of the tunnel. But let’s also remember that some things simply won’t “work out” by our definitions on this earth, and that’s okay. It’s all God’s perfect plan.
As I’m writing this, I’ve realized it has taken me a month to finish and post this, because I myself have been struggling with this very thing. However, I think that through my struggles, I have been able to connect with others and relate to them.
I recently had someone very close to me tell me that they sometimes “feel like a dog begging for a pot of boiling water, and God is the human telling them they can’t have it,” and I have never resonated with something so much. We don’t understand why we can’t have what we want, but ultimately it is for our own good. We think we understand what is best for us, when in reality, that is the farthest thing from the truth. Just like a dog begging for hot water that would burn them, we do the exact same thing.
In this recent conversation, I mentioned something that I think I really need to hear myself. Contrary to our perceptions of peace, peace is not found through control or through understanding. Peace is found through the lack of those things, actually. It is found through the surrender and laying down of the burdens that we attempt to organize and control in an effort to ease our anxiety. It is found when we have faith in God. It is found when we trust Him.
I apologize that this post feels a little bit all over the place, but I suppose it’s more of a mind-dump than anything. All of this is simply to say that God’s timing is perfect, His plan is best, and we can loosen our grip on the control that we so desperately seek to maintain, so that we may find peace in Him and Him alone. Our circumstances, control, and understanding don’t define our peace, because the Lord gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding.
God bless, and have a wonderful day <3
Kenn
