In Pursuit of Peace: 21 Ways to Conquer Anxiety, Fear, and Discontentment by Joyce Meyer
Probably one of the greatest ways we show our trust in God is by living life one day at a time. We prove our confidence in Him by enjoying today and not letting the concern of tomorrow interfere.
It made a big change in my life when I began to gain insight from the Holy Spirit on this problem of dreading things. This truth about living one day at a time greatly increased my peace and joy.
I learned that it really was not the event I was facing that was so bad—it was dreading it that made it bad. Our attitudes do make all the difference in the world. Learn to approach life with a “I can do whatever I need to do” attitude. Don’t say that you hate things like driving to work in traffic, going to the grocery store, cleaning house, doing laundry, changing the oil in the car, or cutting the grass. These chores are all part of life. Don’t let the events of life dictate your level of joy. It is the joy of the Lord that is your strength. Be joyful that you are going to heaven, that you have someone who always loves you, no matter what. Look at and concentrate on what you do have, not what you don’t have.
Everyone has to attend to some unpleasant details in life. We would not know what God’s peace was if we never had any difficulty to go through. It is in these difficulties that we learn how valuable His peace is to us.
Some things are certainly more naturally enjoyable and easier to do than others, but that does not mean we cannot purposely enjoy the other more difficult tasks. We can choose to have attitudes of joy and peace. Usually, if we don’t feel like doing something, we automatically assume we cannot enjoy it or have peace during that time, but that is a deception. We grow spiritually when we do difficult things with a good attitude.
I don’t always feel like being nice and pleasant, but I can choose to in order to honor God. We live for His glory, not our own pleasure. Dreading things does not glorify God. He wants us to live aggressively, to be alive and face each day with courage. How would any parents feel if their children got up each day and said they feared and dreaded the day the parents had prepared for them? They would, of course, feel terrible. God is a parent—He is our parent. The psalmist David said, “This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (see Psalm 118:24). Notice he said, “We will rejoice,” not “We feel like rejoicing.”
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
The future holds a mixture of things we will enjoy and things we would rather do without, but both will come. In Philippians 4:11-12, Paul experienced abasing and abounding, but he also stated that he was able to be content in both, and we also have this option (and ability) as a gift from God.
Jesus promised us that in the world we would have tribulation, but He told us to “cheer up” because He had overcome the world and deprived it of power to really harm us (see John 16:33). Dreading hard times will not prevent them from coming, but it will make them even more difficult than they would have been. Make life as easy as possible; don’t dread it. Face it with courage and say, “I will not fear, because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world” (see 1 John 4:4).
No mortal really knows what the future holds, only God knows, and He does not usually tell us what it is. Why doesn’t He reveal more to us about the future? Because He wants us to trust Him that everything will work out for our ultimate good, that all things work together to help accomplish His will for each of us. We may not know what the future holds, but we can be satisfied to know Him, the one who does know.
I spent some time today thinking about the future, and I realized that everything out there won’t be something I will welcome with open arms. I will face things that I would rather not have to deal with, but I cannot stop them, so I may as well embrace and go through them with a smile on my face.
I am convinced of one thing: I may go through difficulties, but God also has wonderful things planned for me. He always balances things so we don’t become discouraged and defeated by too many difficult days without good ones in between. Remember, God never allows more to come on us than what we can bear, but with every temptation He also always provides the way out.
I have noticed in my life that when I have truly had all I can take, something happens to relieve the pressure for a while. I get built up, rested, and have times of joy, then perhaps go another round with the trouble. When I feel I have reached my limit, I pray for good news, because the Bible says that good news nourishes us, it encourages us and strengthens us. Another Scripture says that David prayed for God to show him evident signs of His goodwill and favor (see Psalm 86:17); I also pray for that, and God always gives me what I need when I need it.
Remember, James 4:2 says we have not because we ask not. Ask God for good news—ask Him to encourage you. Too often in life, we go to people for encouragement or even get angry at them when they are not giving it to us. We should go to God because He is the God of all comfort (see 2 Corinthians 1:3).
We would not need faith if everything in life went the way we wanted. We would need no patience if we never had to wait for anything. Faith and patience work together to bring our breakthroughs. While we are waiting, let us do so with joy and peace. This shows that we are children of God.
The whole world lives in fear and dread, but God’s children should not. We are to behave differently from the people in the world; we should let our light shine. Just being positive in a negative circumstance is a way to do this. The world will notice when we are stable in every kind of situation.
Make up your mind right now that all of life does not need to make you feel good in order for you to face it with peace and joy. Make a decision that you will not dread anything you have to do. Do it all with a thankful attitude. There are people who are sick and diseased or perhaps in the hospital who would absolutely love to be able to move about enough to do what you may be dreading.
I never considered driving down the street to get a cup of coffee a huge privilege until after I had been hospitalized with breast cancer and had surgery. When I was released, I asked my husband to take me out for a coffee and a drive through a local park. It was amazing how much joy I felt.
I was doing a very simple thing that was previously available to me every day, yet I had never seen it as a privilege. When I had faced the possibility of death or long-term treatment for cancer and discovered I would not only live but was pronounced well, I suddenly loved life so much that very simple things brought extreme joy.
Our son went on an outreach with a team of people who go visit the homeless each Friday evening. After helping in this ministry, he called me and said, “If I ever complain again, please knock me down and then kick me for being so stupid!” He was appalled at himself for the things he had murmured about in the past once he saw by comparison how some people were living. We would all feel exactly the same way.
Those without a place to live would love to have a house to clean, while we dread cleaning ours. They would delight in having a car to drive, even an old one, while we complain about needing to wash ours or take it in for an oil change.
I am sure you are getting my point. We lose sight of how blessed we are most of the time, but we should work at keeping it in the front of our thinking. Be thankful you can do anything, and don’t dread things you have to do.
Choose to bless God all the time, no matter what is going on, as David did: “I WILL bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1, italics mine).
PROSPERITY AND PROGRESS
God certainly wants all of His children to enjoy prosperity and progress, but once again I want to remind you that worry, fear, and dread can stop and hinder both of these. This verse says all that I am trying to say: “Then you will prosper if you are careful to keep and fulfill the statutes and ordinances with which the Lord charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Dread not and fear not; be not dismayed” (1 Chronicles 22:13).
The negative expectations of worry and dread hinder and prevent progress. Live courageously, live with faith, and keep
Good things will not just fall on us; we must aggressively pursue them like the woman with the issue of blood pursued Jesus. She refused to take no for an answer, and she got her miracle breakthrough. We can have the same results if we press in and press on instead of drawing back in fear and dread. God will either give us a breakthrough, or at the very least He will give us grace to go through whatever we need to and enjoy our lives while we are doing it.
Recently a group of pastors asked me a question: Besides God Himself, what one thing had helped me get from where I started in ministry to the level of success I currently enjoy? I immediately said, “I refused to give up!” There were thousands of times when I felt like giving up, I thought about giving up, I was tempted to give up, but I always pressed on. I thank God for the determination He gives us.
Don’t let life defeat you—face it with boldness and courage, and declare that you will enjoy every aspect of it. You can do that because you have the awesome power of God dwelling in you. God is never frustrated and unhappy. He always has peace and joy, and since He lives in us and we live in Him, surely we can attain the same thing.
Right now, as I am writing this portion of this book, I have a terrible backache. I did some new exercises yesterday and apparently strained some muscles, but I will not dwell on the pain and let it ruin my day. I have something to accomplish today, and by God’s grace, I will do it. I will not worry that I might still have the same pain tomorrow or dread it if I do. Whatever we go through, God will always be with us. I choose to believe that Jesus is my Healer and that His healing power is working in my body right now!
When tempted to worry, Dave always says, “I am not impressed.” He believes we should be more impressed by God’s Word than our problems. He says if we don’t get impressed, we won’t get depressed, then oppressed, and ultimately perhaps even possessed by our difficulties. No matter what you are facing right now, God has a great life planned for you. It includes prosperity and progress in every area of life. It includes great peace, joy unspeakable, and every good thing you can imagine. Refuse to settle for anything less than God’s best for you!
PEACEKEEPER #5
Don’t Be Double-Minded
Double-minded, indecisive people are always miserable; they certainly don’t enjoy peace with God. Nothing is worse to me than being between two decisions and not making either one of them. I am usually a very decisive person. At times in life I have made decisions too fast and made mistakes. I have also found that I canslip into being double-minded and indecisive if I am not careful.
I believe this is something the devil tempts all of us with at various times. He does anything that steals our peace because he knows that without peace, we are without power. We often don’t make decisions because we don’t want to make mistakes. But making no decision is still a decision and a mistake. Decide to decide! It will produce peace in your life, as long as you don’t second-guess yourself and fall back into being indecisive once again.
Stick with your decisions unless you are definitely shown that they are wrong. Sometimes we find out whether a decision is right or wrong only by making it and seeing what happens. Making a wrong decision is not the end of the world, in most cases, and it is usually better than making no decision.
Some people do nothing most of their lives because they are afraid to commit to action. I hope you are not one of those people, but if you are, I want to help you. Please realize you need to start somewhere. Begin with smaller things, and work your way up to major decisions.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF WHAT PEOPLE THINK
Most of us would not mind making a mistake if we thought we could make it privately. It is not the mistake, but people knowing about it that bothers us. We are afraid of what people think, and yet their opinions cannot really harm us. Our indecision can.
Many people have destroyed their lives by being overly concerned about what others think. Saul lost his kingdom and the opportunity to be king because he cared so much about what people thought that he disobeyed God on more than one occasion.
We have all experienced having to choose between God and people. It really should not even be a contest, but somehow it always is—at least until we are delivered from the fear of man.
Can someone’s thoughts really harm us that much? I think I have finally realized that if someone wants to judge me, he will find some way to do it, no matter what I do; therefore, I may as well follow my heart and get about enjoying my life.
We will be judged, criticized, and misunderstood at various times in life, and we really can’t do much about it. Fear of people’s thoughts about our decisions only prevents us from making progress. We decide nothing and then nothing happens, with the exception that we remain frustrated while going back and forth and being confused about what we should do.
Satan always threatens us with, “What if . . . ?” He shows us the most terrible thing that could happen, and it always revolves around our making a mistake. When needing to make a decision, we must remember that there is as much of a chance that we will be right as wrong.
We will never fulfill our destinies if we have undue concern over what people think. Let them think what they want. If they think wrong thoughts, they will pay the price by being miserable. Wrong thoughts can do nothing except produce misery. Many people blame their unhappiness and lack of peace on their circumstances when it really is rooted in their own lousy thinking.
People who can break free from caring about what other people think will instantly upgrade their level of living. They will increase their joy and their peace one hundredfold.
BE CONFIDENT
God wants us to live with confidence and approach life boldly. Being indecisive is neither. Make a decision today to start being decisive. It will never happen if you don’t. It may be a bold move for you if you have spent a lot of your life in fear and indecision, but it is necessary if you really want to enjoy a life of peace. Indecision is not a peaceful place.
Put your confidence in Christ and who you are in Him, not in what people think of you. We cannot base our worth on what others have said or how they have treated us. People who are hurting will hurt others. If you have come into contact with people who are hurting, they may hurt or reject you. They may have transposed their pain onto you, when in reality you were not the real problem at all.
Know yourself! Know your heart, and don’t wait for other people to dictate to you the truth about your value. Don’t assume you are wrong every time someone does not agree with you. Believe that God’s wisdom dwells inside of you. Believe you can make decisions. There is no point at all in believing something negative about yourself when it is just as easy to believe something positive—and it’s certainly a lot more beneficial.
People who are indecisive are usually more passive in nature or insecure. They are fear-based and should be faith-based individuals. Is fear, or faith, motivating most of your actions?
A believer without confidence is like a jumbo jet sitting on the runway with no fuel in it. It looks good but goes no place. People who are indecisive are the same way. They may have all the qualities needed to be successful, but if they refuse to make decisions, they go nowhere and accomplish nothing. Progress begins with a decision.
BE COURAGEOUS
Courage is a vitally necessary quality if we intend to do anything worthwhile with our time here on earth. Leaders are not always, or even usually, the most gifted people, but they are people with courage. They step out when others shrink back in fear. They take bold steps of faith, they do things that to other people might even seem foolish or unwise, but they are willing to take a chance. They may be wrong occasionally, but they are right enough of the time that it doesn’t matter.
I would rather try to do a lot and accomplish a little than try to do nothing and accomplish all of it. If I try nothing, I will accomplish nothing. The worst thing that can happen is I will be wrong, and that really is not the end of the world. After all, nobody is right all
God expects us to increase, to be fruitful and multiply (see Genesis 1:28). He admires courage; in fact, He demands it from those who will work alongside of Him. The Lord told Joshua that he was to take Moses’ place and lead the Israelites into the promised land. There was one stipulation: He had to be strong and of good courage.
Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. . . . Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:6-7, 9)
It doesn’t matter what qualities or provisions we do not have, as long as God is with us. He is all we need. He makes up for anything we are lacking. God told Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Joshua 1:5). Moses was great because God was with him and he took courageous steps to do what God told him to do. The same thing would hold true for Joshua—and will be true for any one of us who follows God’s ways in these areas. His way is not one of shrinking back in fear, but of going forward courageously in faith.
God’s way is one of being decisive. We are not to make decisions so quickly that we don’t give them proper thought and prayer. We should seek wisdom and be sure we are following peace. But once we have done all we can do to assure we are making a right decision, as far as we know, there is nothing else to do except be courageous and do something, lest we do nothing.