“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” ~ Unknown
That phrase is on a plaque that a friend gave to me as a gift. It is in my office and I glance at it occasionally. I have to admit that I have looked at it a lot more often these past several months as our parish and school renovation project has been going on. With the noise of the crews banging and drilling, the noise of the generator, the dirt all around, the constant interruptions, the unpredictable schedules, the power outages, and the like, there have been many times that I have lost my inner peace.
Why and how did I lose it? Quite simple. I let it got. That’s right. It really is that simple. You see, God really is in our lives. He is a part of everything that we do. He is present to us and for us. However, if we take our eyes off of Him and allow ourselves to be distracted by everything going on around us, our days — our lives — will begin to spin out of control.
I know that. I preach that. But, sometimes, I do not live that.
This project has been a test to me about how well I can hang on to my inner peace. As some things have come up, I have found myself becoming so distracted that I have even interrupted my prayer life. That is a surefire way to disrupt one’s peace even more!
We all have things — or people — in our lives that can be at the root of our letting go of our inner peace. When those times happen, we need to take a deep breath, remind ourselves of what is truly important, and ask God to help center ourselves again so that we can cope with whatever it is we are facing rather than letting our peace go.
God will never fail us. He will always give us the help that we need. All we have to do is ask.
FAITH ACTION: In prayer today, ask God to give you the inner peace that you need to meet any turmoil that your day may present.