How to have peace when life is out of control
Peace is what we are all craving in this storm. And it’s possible, but it requires that we follow an ancient spiritual blueprint to get there.
Media Outlet: Ulla Johnson
Photography: Yelena Yemchuk
Model: April Hughes
I thought I could hold my breath until it was over. That’s what I usually do when life feels out of control. Gulp in as much air as my lungs can take and brace myself for the inevitable discomfort of chaos. Ignoring the breathless panic rising within, I remind myself that things will return to normal soon. And they usually do.
From the outside, I look peaceful. Unaffected. Calm. Steady. Some would even say brave.
But this time the storm has outlasted me. And in its tenacity, it has revealed a confronting truth: the appearance of peace is very different from the reality of it. Holding my breath isn’t going to work this time.
I’ve seen others take the opposite approach in an attempt to regain a sense of control — inhaling as much information as they can, almost hyperventilating in their frantic effort to stitch together something resembling an ordered, peace-filled life. But a frenzy of productivity also fails to result in authentic peace. Its impact is short-lived and the effort is exhausting.
‘From the outside, I look peaceful. Unaffected. Calm. Steady. Some would even say brave.’
True peace looks like learning to breathe through the storm.
I’m coming to realise that true peace is learning to breathe freely, fully and steadily through everything that comes our way. This doesn’t mean we don’t feel the full force of our emotions. It doesn’t result in the immediate resolution of all questions and unfortunately, it doesn’t remove suffering or challenges.
But far more than a quiet cup of tea or an instagrammable scene, this kind of peace teaches us how to anchor our inhales and exhales into a divine rhythm and order — one which is unaffected by the storm raging around us.
And the good news is that while this peace is not something we can ever hope to manufacture for ourselves, it is something that is freely available to us.
Jesus says, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.’
Unlike any kind of other temporary peace on offer in the world around us, this peace is a gift that we receive from God. And after opening and receiving it we are then invited to take an active role in cultivating it within the garden bed of our everyday lives.
All sounding a bit theoretical? Take a look at these instructions from the book of Philippians in the Bible. They break the process into three very practical steps.
‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’
Our first step: surrender anxiety and concern to God through prayer. For me this looks like pages of raw, honest, messy journaling and very long walks where I literally offload every thought (rational and irrational) to God. This surrender then positions my heart for step two: embracing the peace that God promises to give.
‘And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’
I’ve found it’s important at this point to remember that peace is described as transcending understanding, which means that it may not make total sense to us in the moment. One way I have learned to partner with peace is to thank God for it — whether I feel it or not — and in so doing I am receiving it as an act of faith.
‘True peace looks like learning to breathe through the storm.’
Finally, we’re invited to cultivate our thought-lives as a way to remain in peace.
‘Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.’
This is where meditation and worship are so vital, not because they distract us from what is happening in the real world but because they help our minds catch up with the reality that our spirits have already been invited into. Cultivating our thought-life increases our awareness of who God is even in the midst of everything going on.
This isn’t a magic formula, but rather an ancient spiritual blueprint available for us to laid out for us to follow. A pathway that invites us to learn to receive and cultivate true and lasting peace in our lives, even in the midst of chaos.
WORDS BY:
Taryn Atkinson
