No God-No Peace, Know God-Know Peace

If our nation were a person and would look in the mirror and be honest, Lady Liberty would need to admit that she is suffering from anxiety and has little to no peace. Every nation is made up of people, and the state of the nation is nothing more than a reflection of that state of the individuals. So what should we do, take a shot of Fireball, smoke a joint, get a massage, meditate or do yoga, go to church, see a counselor, have a sexual experience, hit the gym, read a self-help book? I could go on and on….. I have done all of these things and there is a reasonable argument that each one has a certain benefit in assisting either the mind or body in coping with stress, but none of these things will ever truly cure the issues of the heart in which the problems come. For most of my life, if I were asked, “How was I doing?” I would have been quick to answer with a smile on my face, “I’m doing great”. Yet if I look back upon my journey and be real with myself, I was not doing great at all. Sure, parts of my life might have been on the right track at the time, but under the surface and not necessarily to my knowledge, I was not well, and I did not truly understand what it meant to know peace. Although I had a relationship with God, I did not truly connect in an intimate way that brought peace in my life. A nation of people that does not know God will not have peace.

I entered a relationship with God through reading the Bible at the age of 19. I had joined the Marine Corp with eight others from my senior class and went to boot camp in July of 1985. Since the only item allowed in with you was a bible, so I taped my girlfriends picture between a couple of pages and brought it. I do not know about the boot camp of today, but in my day, there was no talking or socializing only a little quiet time at night and some on Sunday. Without much else to do I began truly reading my Bible and realized that the vast majority of what I had read, I hadn’t heard before, nor did I have any understanding of what I was reading. I had grown up attending a large denominational church and felt they had their chance to teach me and looking out at the hundreds of different churches out there, I felt I had no idea which way to turn; so I went straight to God. I started with a simply pray: “God please give me your understanding of the Bible” and then I would read. Shortly after this my prayer changed to: “God I give my life to you, come into my heart and give me your understanding of the Bible”, and then I would read. This went on for over a year before God opened my understanding of the mystery of His plan of salvation. One night while lying in bed, it was like all the jumbled pieces of the puzzle came together and I understood God’s plan for humanity: who Jesus was, why he came to earth and why He died on the cross. When I woke up the next day, I was a completely different person on the inside. I saw people differently and saw nature differently. It was like my eyes were opened to the world around me for the first time. Without any guidance my lifestyle didn’t change much at first and I ended up getting in a lot of trouble and eventually ended up being kicked out of the Marine Corp and homeless three thousand miles away from home, but my journey had begun.

It would be wonderful to share different chapters of my life but for brevity’s sake I will summarize. I went on to build a large financial planning practice; I have some bible collage under my belt; I have traveled to over 40 countries; been able to give to orphanages and community works; I have prayed for the sick and seen God do great miracles; I have both taught Sunday school classes and been a Sunday school director; I have adopted children; I have been married; and I have been divorced. By most people’s standards I have lived a full life with some failures, yet I still did my best to do what is right and tried to honor God the whole way. A little over three years I was struggling with losses in my life and I was angry with what I felt were devastating circumstances that, from my perspective trapped me in a living hell. For me, these circumstances center around my wife and I found myself crying out to God complaining about what she was doing to me. Within my mind God spoke and said, “write it all down.” So, I responded, “I will,” and began to fill a page with all the ugly things she had done. Feeling justified I presented my list to God, and then He said, “Now write your stuff”. With a big lump in my throat I took another piece of paper and slowly filled it with my worst over the previous few years. With tears streaming out of eyes I looked through the blur and stared at what I had become. A man that I would hate! While continuing to look at my list I began to realize how patient and kind and loving God had been with me. He was never harsh with me and He never zapped me even though, I had deserved it more times than I want to admit. The reality of His amazing love flooded my heart and soul with such intensity that I continued to lay weeping for at least 30 minutes. When I was done, my heart cried out with, “I want to love like you, please teach me” and a new journey began. It was a journey towards unconditional love. Having experienced it in such a profound way I now wanted to truly live it out, but hurt people, tend to hurt people not love them. I have been on a journey of self-discovery, deliverance and healing. With God’s tender mercy and amazing love guiding and filling me, I have learned what true peace and contentment feels like. I would love to tell you that my circumstances have improved over the last three years but, in many ways they have gotten worse. My circumstances and the actions of others no longer determine my ability to experience a peace that surpasses all understanding. Because true peace isn’t a mental exercise or a physical state of being but having a redeemed and restored heart and a knowing that the one who knows everything about you, loves and accepts you right where you are.

We all have a need to be noticed, wanted, protected, held, known, appreciated, to belong, empowered, forgiven, connected and loved. And without these needs being met, it will be impossible to experience lasting true peace. It is natural to look to others to meet these needs of the heart. The problem is that no man or women is designed to flawlessly meet the depths of these needs, so we are always searching and being let down until we settle for a state of being that is far from true health and peace. And this becomes our norm, and we pass that norm down from generation to generation. It is only through giving all to the Prince of Peace that your heart will discover the warmth and comfort of knowing that He holds you, He notices you, He knows you and still wants you. He is your safe place, He appreciates you, you are forgiven, you belong, you are loved. Give all that you are to the lover of your soul and let your new journey begin.