How To Have Peace During Life's Ups and Downs

All of us need peace when we experience trials, tribulations, and storms throughout our lives.

When we lose our job.
When we endure chronic illness.
When a close friend or family member passes away.
When our finances are scraped perilously thin.
When a relationship goes sour.

During these trials and tribulations, we desperately need the peace of God that surpasses understanding and transcends the circumstances of our lives. We need a deep, lasting peace that can’t be easily shaken. We need a peace that will sustain us as the storm rages around us.

But where do we find this precious peace? How do we experience peace when life is full of storms?

Scripture gives us two simple, yet profound ways to experience the peace of God amid trials.

Step #1: Fix Your Mind On God

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

The first step in experiencing the peace of God during the storms of life is to fix our minds on God.

Isaiah 26:3 says that God gives peace to those whose minds are stayed on him. In other words, peace comes when we remember God.

We experience peace when we call to mind the character of God and the promises of God.

Scripture tells us that God is always faithful to us. He never leaves us, never forsakes us, never abandons us. He is always with us, always sustaining us, always preserving us. He loves us and is our Good Shepherd who will guide us to green pastures and still waters.

Even when we’re going through the storms of life, God is faithful. He will bring us through to the other side. He won’t let the waters overwhelm us. The fires won’t consume us. He will gently shepherd us to good places of rest and peace.

God has promised to always do good to us and not even the storms of life can stop God from fulfilling His promises.

As it says in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If we want to experience peace, we must actively call these things to mind. We must remember that God’s love is steadfast and that even though we are weak, He is faithful. We must fix our minds firmly on God’s good character and unshakable promises.

When we do that, we experience peace.

Step #2: Prayer and Supplication

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

The second step to experiencing God’s peace in the midst of trials and troubles is to constantly be in prayer before God.

Whenever we experience the slightest bit of anxiety or worry, that should be a signal for us to run to God in prayer and supplication.

God is our almighty, loving, gracious, powerful Father. He is the one who controls all things and rules over the universe. This same God invites us to lay all our burdens and anxieties and worries at His feet. He wants us to cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us.

The simple truth is that we’re not strong enough to bear our burdens on our own. We need God Himself to bear our burdens for us and we must cast our burdens upon God through prayer and supplication.

First Peter 5:6-7 says, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

If we want to experience peace, we must cast all our anxieties upon the Lord. We must run to our glorious, mighty, strong God and give Him the burdens that we can’t bear. We can do this knowing that He cares abundantly for us. We can exchange our burdens for the wonderful peace that He offers.

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

The classic hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” says:

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

This week, don’t forfeit your peace or endure pain needlessly. Instead, fix your mind firmly on God and carry everything to Him in prayer. As you do that, you’ll experience the abundant peace of God.