Finding Peace

What is peace? Is it happiness and contentment, or something altogether different? When we feel it, we know it, but can we create it? Or is peace something that happens because we are in the right place at the right time?

Sometimes, we think of peace as the opposite of war. When we are at war, we are fighting against someone or something. Being at peace in this case is the absence of fighting. It is a resolution of our differences to the point that we can live side by side without fearing for our lives.

We may think of peace as quietness, like walking along a beach in the cool of the evening, listening to the sound of the waves as they break onto the shore. It may mean enjoying the stillness of the morning when there is no wind and we hear the chirping sounds of the birds as they welcome the sun to a brand new day.

In the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, stress is high, funds are low, and we frequently feel harried and frustrated. In these moments, peace may be the absence of things to do, a moment of relaxation after a busy day, or a hug from someone we love that calms our jangled nerves.

Peace can simply be stillness within the soul, a sense of calm that comes from knowing that all will be well, no matter what happens. This kind of peace comes only from a witness that we are not alone in this world, and that there is a power and influence beyond our own at work in our behalf.

Christ tells us that the only way to have peace is in and through him. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, KJV).

In order for us to have peace, we, too, have to look beyond this world. As we fill our minds and hearts with the words of our Savior, and seek for his Spirit to be with us, it does not matter what happens around us, we will be at peace.