The Path To Peace

I will listen to what the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints.

Psalm 85:8

There are no troubles that distress the mind and wear upon the nerves as do borrowed troubles. The Psalmist said, “Fret not thyself . . .” (Psalm 37:1). The implication is that fretting, complaining, and distress of mind are often self-manufactured and can be best coped with by a change of attitude and transformation of thought. As someone has said, “Worry is an old man with bended head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks is lead.”

The Psalmist also said, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). Job asks, “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?” (Job 34:29).

Many of our troubles are caused by self-centeredness. The human mind is not meant to be limited to such a narrow scope. It is to be free to soar, to dream, to hope, and to trust. When our eyes are turned inward instead of upward, we suffer from spiritual nearsightedness.

Anticipation of trouble makes trifles appear unduly large, and the troubles that never come make up an imagined burden that will crush the spirit. They are haunting specters, as insubstantial as a bad dream, and we spend the strength that should be expended in constructive work and services in fighting problems that do not even exist.

Instead of “borrowing trouble” we should listen to the Lord when he says, “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).

Our Father and our God, forgive my fretting about life’s little problems. Tune me in to Your grace and peace. Don’t let Satan steal my joy by loading me down with worry and discontentment. Help me keep my eyes on You and the promises of Your Word. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).