“Seek peace and pursue it.”

— Psalm 34:14

What creates stress? Nowadays there are many situations that produce stress within us. We have stressful jobs, stressful relationships, stressful responsibilities. But listen to what one doctor says: “Since stress comes from the way in which you think, and not from the situation or people involved in your stress, you can begin to practice mind control.” Well, now, isn’t that news. Three thousand years after King David told us to “Seek peace and pursue it,” we discover that we can find the antidote for stress in our own minds.

The apostle Paul knew the importance of peace. He began many of his epistles with the words “Peace be unto you.” He ended many of them with “Grace, mercy and peace be yours.” Peace is the alpha and omega of the Christian’s well-being. As children of God, peace should be our normal state, and it will be the totality of our mental state in Heaven. But right now, unfortunately, many people fail to find it.

How sad it is to see unbelievers struggle—in vain—to find peace by turning to Eastern religious practices such as transcendental meditation or yoga. But even many believers don’t seem to find the peace they need. Instead, we all experience anxiety, stress, and a lack of serenity to some degree.

We need to seek the peace of God and pursue it in the morning, at night, throughout each day, in the midst of stressful situations. We need to recover weekly so that we don’t build up an accumulation of ever-growing stress in our lives. Do you feel stressed out, as if you can’t take any more? Then take time to lie “beside the still waters.” Take time out once a week for a restful, worshipful Sabbath. Above all, take time to really hear God’s words: “Be still and know that I am God.”

“It is not adversity that kills, but the impatience
with which we bear adversity.”
Anonymous