3 Simple Everyday Steps to Finding Peace and Purpose
1. Morning Quiet
2. Daytime Pause
3. Evening Reflection
Last week I shared with you Step 1 of how I am getting unstuck emotionally, spiritually, and even physically: Morning Quiet — the practice of starting the day with God, sitting quietly at Jesus feet. Choosing the “good portion which will not be taken away.” Personally, I’ve been working on this for some time now, and the practice of Morning Quiet, followed by a time in the Bible and ending with prayer, has brought the peace of God into my soul. It really works, y’all! It’s such an awesome experience to sit with God and know His presence and peace.
Step 2: Daytime Pause
What’s next, now that I’ve had such a quiet, blessed and peaceful start to the day? I’d love to stay here all day, but reality calls –I have to actually start living into this day sometime, after all! People are needing me (big people, little people, all the people!), Kitchen and laundry chores are calling, there’s an appointment to get to. For some of you, the school bus may be beeping outside, the boss is texting, the inbox is exploding, and notifications are dinging…
Life happens! My Story…
On a recent morning, following a day-long ice storm, the trees outside my window were sparkling like crystals in bright sunshine. The scene was breathtaking. It was a beautiful morning, and I was looking forward to hosting a special birthday party in another location later that day. After enjoying a sweet time sitting quietly with the Lord, thanking Him for the dazzling beauty of His Creation, and taking some pictures, I felt happy, calm and equipped for the day. I felt strong, prepared and so peaceful.
Then life happened.
I walked out of my happy place, our sunroom, to find that our 11 month old puppy Molly had happily chewed a big hole in the arm of our sofa. I cleaned up the mess, then turned my attention to my next project for the day, printing out some pictures for the party. I soon found that the printer was taking a day off. There would be no pictures that day. Focusing my attention on the printer and answering text messages, the minutes ticked by and I never gave a thought to checking out the driveway and the car. So, a bit later, rushing out the front door to get to town to pick up the balloons, and then to get to the party on time, I discovered that the car was completely encased in ice with the scrapers sealed INSIDE the frozen car. An hour later, after a lot of manual labor involving my husband, a paint scraper and hairdryer the car was driveable, but I was obviously going to be late to the birthday party. And there would be NO balloons! Our Wifi was misbehaving, I couldn’t send a text message, and my headache was coming back.
It’s sometimes so hard to hang onto our peace, isn’t it?
What do you do when life rudely crashes in and your peace get a little shaky?
Truth be told, I’m a bit of a control perfectionist. It’s a struggle for me when things don’t go according to MY plan, and I have to deal with frustrations. But the Lord has been teaching me that, at times like this, what my spirit needs is to take a pause. To carve out a little space in my chaos. To hit the PAUSE button, breathe deep, assess what I am feeling, and turn it over to the Lord. Impatience, anger, frustration, stress? Whatever is ‘sticking in my craw’, I need to name it. To turn it over to Him. To pray, praise and thank Him. Then, if circumstances allow, I might turn on some praise music. I might even dance. Or read a Psalm. Any of these activities have helped me in the past to click my mind and spirit back into place and restore balance in my relationship with the Lord. But prayer and listening to His voice comes first. He is the same Lord Who connected with me just that morning. He’s still here with me, and once again, when I pause and listen, He speaks peace into my soul.
He speaks peace into my soul.
So, that’s Step 2: It’s just a brief pause. A little shelter in the storm. A little “Peace, be still.” Taking time to regroup with God and listen. Even in the craziness of my ice storm, God was still speaking. I just needed to slow down and pay attention.
Next week I’d like to dive a bit deeper into How I’m Getting Unstuck, Step 3, Reflection. Meanwhile I’m going to keep working on these practices. One day at a time!
“And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” –Mark 4:39
** Please note: In this series I have been directing my content to those who have already trusted Jesus and who have a relationship with God. This is not about religion. But if you have not trusted Jesus as your Savior, please know that He loves you and He is waiting with arms open wide for you to come to Him. Please follow the link below to find peace with God.
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