April 6, 2021
The Missing Piece to Your Peace
GRETCHEN SAFFLES
Lee en español
"I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word." Psalm 119:15-16 (ESV)
Anxiety startled me awake without my permission. The pressures of daily life thrust my soul's peace into a frenzied panic.
My thoughts spiraled into "what ifs" and "what nows," and my hope for a peaceful night of rest seemed like a far-off dream. I didn't want to be anxious, but I had no idea how I could experience the peace God promised.
This wasn't the first time anxiety pushed and prodded at the peace that is mine in Christ Jesus. I can recall countless times when troubled thoughts and racing questions led me to a dead end of fear.
I used to think I was the only Christian woman who still stumbled into the anxiety pit time and time again. While the world around me moved forward without a care, I'd pretend everything was OK even though the world inside me was crumbling. Satan knew the lie - that everything was OK - was precisely the lie that would hinder me from embracing freedom and fullness in Jesus. I believed this lie until the day God showed me the missing piece to my peace.
In Psalm 119:15-16, the psalmist penned a resolution to fill his mind with the Truth of God's Word through the discipline of meditation. The meaning of the word "meditate" in this passage is to ponder, muse or study. Biblical meditation is a consistent and continual filling of one's mind with the Word of God by dwelling on its Truth. As we think deeply about God's Word, the Word takes root in our souls, becoming a part of our thinking, believing and understanding.
Did you know many of us spend most of our days dwelling on negative thoughts? Not only are these thoughts negative, but they are also repetitive. What we dwell on dictates our responses and becomes the narrative of our lives. When we are stuck in a cycle of repetitive, negative thoughts, we cannot find peace.
But God hasn't left us without hope. He has given us the power of His Living Word to stop the cycle when we filter every thought through His promises. (Hebrews 4:12) Instead of allowing negative thoughts that clash with the Truth of God's Word to play on repeat in our minds, we can join the psalmist in resolving to fill our minds with Truth.
Now, when the button of worry gets pushed, what plays on the record of our souls is a soothing melody of God's promises. Worry-filled thoughts will come and go, but God's Word never changes - yet it always changes us. If we want to find the freedom Jesus came to give, we need to know the Word inside and out, letting it seep into the deepest recesses of our souls. (Psalm 119:11; John 8:32)
Apart from saturating our souls in His Word, attempting to live a Spirit-filled, well-watered life in Christ is like trying to put together a puzzle that is missing several pieces. No matter what angle you look at it from, the picture is never complete. The missing piece to our peace is the steady intake of Truth. When God's Word becomes the filter we see all of life through - including every "what if" that threatens to turn our peace into panic - then God's promises become our rest.
Lord, we are helpless without Your help, living the dried-up life while sitting at the bottom of the pit of anxiety. Your Word reaches into these depths and lifts us up so we can sing a new song. Tear down our negative, repetitive thoughts, and root our souls in Your Truths that never change, although they always change us. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 26:3, "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!" (NLT)
Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." (ESV)
RELATED RESOURCES:
Discover the bottomless, refreshing Well of God's Word and experience peace beyond your circumstances in Gretchen's upcoming book, The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith. Gretchen Saffles knows what it's like to feel overwhelmed and unable to flourish. In The Well-Watered Woman, Gretchen leads us to the Well of fullness, the Word of freedom and the Way of fruitfulness. She teaches that God's Word will satisfy us for all eternity. Find the book and The Well-Watered Life devotional journal at wellwateredwomen.com/book.
CONNECT:
You can connect with Gretchen Saffles on Instagram at @gretchensaffles, along with her ministry @wellwateredwomen, and on Facebook. Find more Bible study tools and gospel-centered resources at www.wellwateredwomen.com.
Enter to WIN your very own copy of The Well-Watered Woman by Gretchen Saffles. To celebrate this book, Gretchen's publisher will give away 5 copies! Enter to win by leaving a comment here. {We'll randomly select 5 winners and then notify each one in the comments section by Monday, April 12, 2021.}
REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Take inventory of your thought life today. What thoughts are contrary to God's Word? Write down Truths you can meditate on to combat fear and worry.
© 2021 by Gretchen Saffles. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries thanks Tyndale Publishers for their sponsorship of today's devotion.
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