PEACE LEADS TO JOY

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

 

 

As the days the go by there are so many images, thoughts and emotions that fills our senses, we are wanting more, we are looking for more, we are attempting to trust more, but we never seem to find that which we are searching for in the places that can’t supply what we need. I have lived a life of very highs and lows being in the coaching profession which causes the senses always to be in overload in one fashion or another.  I remember a few years back I was coaching and the team went on a 10 or 12 games run of wins.  I clearly remember having a moment of quiet time to digest the long run of wins.  I remember thinking, will we ever loose again? The very next game we did loose.  The momentary peace and joy I felt from having such success was whisked away as quickly as the thought materialized.

 

Today after training I was in the soccer office working on a few things and someone in the office asked me if today was Tuesday. I responded by saying yes and they went on quickly pouring out several reason why Tuesday’s were not a good day for them.  So the person proceeded to ask me the question if I felt the same way about Tuesdays, my response was no.  They seemed to become intrigued by my answer for a moment and they seemed to ponder my answer.  After their pondering concluded, they mustered up the one million dollar question … why?  So without hesitation, I rambled off phrases such as I am still living, the love of my family, and then I said because Jesus loves me.  This last statement seemed to freeze the person and for a few moments there was silence, but they were not yet finished with their questions.  They proceeded to entangle the question by saying the statement of Jesus loves you is not fair reason for liking or not liking Tuesday.  They went on to say that you must never have a day you do not like because Jesus always loves you.

 

This brings me to my title peace leads to joy.  I can remember when there were many days that I felt as if I was having a bad day or I did not like the day. Three events changed my life in regards to finding peace.  First, before the love of Jesus Christ renewed my vision of the world I did not understand what each day was intended to be about? I began to understand that our day should be used to bring glory to Jesus, which brings light into the world. The love of Jesus is so powerful and so life changing it is difficult to resist.  This love of Jesus moves us, shapes us and guides us into the people he always wanted. Secondly, I have found that as we change through the love of Jesus we begin to search for the good in all circumstances. We should find ourselves being reinvented to be builders of lives instead of destroyers of lives.  We find ourselves praising instead of criticizing so others can find the love of Jesus.  Even in the small things we should look to use a pat on the back for people rather than a slap in the face.  There is a saying that coaches can be some of the most negative people in life because we are always striving to get the best out of the players we coach, but clearly finding the good in people really does motivate people.  I did not always know that approach until I began to build people up even in the most dire situations.  I know from first hand experience that finding the good in people really is a way we can find peace.  My final thought about peace leading to joy is giving up control and surrendering to God.  For us people who consider ourselves to be born leaders and feel the most comfortable in leadership positions this can be a difficult reality.  Once you comprehend the fact God is always in control and he has our best interest in mind in all his decisions then we can surrender.  Once we surrender our relationship becomes stronger because people around us begin to feel important.  People no longer see us as the one who needs the spotlight.  All around us things begin to change; how we interact with people we know as well as strangers we do not know.  Now, the love of Jesus, which is contained inside of us, can shine through and we can be a light unto this world.  So I say to all, if you want to find peace that leads to joy take time to pray and surrender all to Jesus.  The only permanent peace we have is trusting in Jesus Christ.  All things will pass away, but the peace we have in Jesus Christ will always be our safety. To reach this point of peace is always a work in progress and I know for my personal peace it can be a struggle, but I know in the end Jesus will be there to help me reach that level of peace that will empower me to be more as Jesus wants.

 

Grace and Peace to you

Rod