peace in the midst of struggle

"Peace is the concept of harmony and the absence of hostility. In a behavioral sense, peace is generally understood to be a lack of conflict and freedom from fear."

I don’t know if you are anything like me, but I am a fixer. Whenever I go through anything my first thought is how can I fix it? What can I do to change this situation? What is the problem so that I can figure out a solution. And when I can’t do this I get majorly stressed out. Anxious about everything, what am I even doing with my life? 

I’ve had to learn that sometimes it takes time to figure things out, to figure out what your next step is. And as much as it sucks sometimes “the waiting” is the first step. And without that you can’t move forward until you allow yourself to hurt, feel the pain and heal. Accept the place that you are. My mom told me a lot walking through a hard season that feeling pain so immensely is a great thing because it shows you’re human and the same way you feel that pain you will be able to feel that love, that joy again. Sometimes you don’t know whats next. Guess what, that’s ok. We don’t always have to have a plan. We don’t always have to have an outline of what the next five years will look like because you know what, even if you do it probably won’t go perfectly as planned. And God, the only one who truly matters has got it under control, He knows. Sometimes you have to let the stress go and just think about today. Just consider yourself today, your life today. What do you want to do today? What brings you happiness that you can enjoy in this moment? What’s a mini goal that you can set for yourself today? And soon enough you will look back and see those months have withered away and here you are blooming just as God promised you would. 

Here are 5 practical steps that helped me find peace walking through my struggle.

1. Talk to God, ALL DAY

You know you can talk to God at any time? You know that it doesn’t have to be in church, or prayer time, or before you eat. I talk with God all day every day. Any time I start feeling anxious, whenever I’m stressed, if I get worried I just start talking, asking Him to guide me, asking Him to help me. Simple, huh? It is, so do it!

2. Be grateful 

Whenever I get overly stressed whether it’s a bad day or a bad 10 minutes I always try to take a step out to think about everything I am grateful for. Make a list, say it aloud, focus on it, meditate on it. This will change your whole state from anxious to thankful. From upset to joyful.

3. Worship

If you’ve talked to me very much you might have heard me say “Worship music saved my life”. I am a natural worshipper, it has always been something I enjoy. You are never more free than when you are worshipping. You never feel so passionate, or full of purpose. It is an amazing way to turn your eyes off of yourself and your situation and turn them to the healer. When I couldn’t sleep at night or I was having a bad day (I still do this) I would always turn on worship music. Try it, I promise it works. 

4. Dream Again 

Overtime hurts can cause our dreams to get pushed down and hidden away. Take each worry or hurt that you have and turn it into a dream. Something that excites you, gets you excited for the future. Every time you have that bad thought redirect your thoughts to the dream. After a couple of times this will become a natural thing for your mind to do whenever you begin to worry. For example, the first couple of weeks of going through divorce I would lay in bed and cry my eyes out just thinking about all the hurt and pain I felt. One night I was begging God to help me and he told me every time I thought about that pain to start praying for my future husband. As you can guess within minutes I had a smile on my face and excitement and hope for the future. And the great thing is you can do this with ANY worry!!

5. Do things that make you happy

Take time for yourself. I don’t know about you but I actually had to figure out what I like and liked to do all over again. I would make sure each day I did something that I enjoyed. Whether it’s running, working out which is a great stress reliever by the way especially if you do it outside. Get your nails done, write, whatever your thing is, do it. And DO NOT feel guilty about it. You deserve to take care of yourself, because remember you can only love someone as much as you love yourself. 

I hope these steps will help you to truly change your life for the better so that you can turn your trials into triumph! When we lose hope and lose our peace there is no chance of hope, which means we get stuck. That means there’s no chance of gaining the blessing God is going to give you for walking through your storm, because he turns EVERY THING for good, for those who are called according to his name. And HE keeps His promises!