When I was searching for God, I realized that what I was genuinely seeking was peace. I didn’t have a hectic or stressed-out life — well, maybe a little — but I could feel this odd emptiness.
Emptiness
What was the emptiness? I couldn’t identify it. I had a job, a place to live, a great boyfriend who was going to become my husband, and I was working on furthering my college education — things people do in their early twenties.
And yet I couldn’t figure out what was missing. I seemed to be heading in the right direction as a young adult, but something was definitely missing. I was looking back and feeling like I’d missed things. It manifested as a literal physical ache whenever I thought about it. Unsure of what to do, I returned to my youth and began rereading the Bible. The more I read it, the more I realized I needed to get back to that place, and the better I started to feel.
What Is Peace?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of peace is: “The state of not being interrupted or annoyed by worry, noise, or unwanted actions.” That sounds like the life we all want! No one bugging us or asking stupid questions, nothing to worry about, no aggravations with family or work. Of course, we know that is in no way, shape, or form true!
Let’s examine a biblical definition of peace using the Hebrew word Shalom, often translated as ‘peace.’ The meaning of Shalom is: “peace, wholeness, completeness, well-being, and harmony.” If we compare the Cambridge definition with the Biblical definition, we find that the world views peace as the absence of worldly problems. If we examine the biblical meaning of “Shalom,” we find that peace is an inner state of calm, regardless of what is happening in the world.
Finding Inner Peace
I wish I could say that things in my life became peaceful immediately. They didn’t. Once I started reading the Bible and focusing more on God’s word than on life’s problems, a calm began to come over me. Ultimately, it took some years to truly find peace amidst chaos, because inner peace comes from wholeness. Bible translations often use the word “perfection,” but the definition of the word is to be whole. Wholeness means nothing is lacking, complete, no missing pieces, no more broken pieces. Although those things took a while, I can honestly say that the emptiness had left and the journey to inner peace had begun. It’s not that we can ignore problems; we can’t. However, as life progressed, I discovered that there were problems I was concerned about that weren’t mine to solve.
Let’s be honest, the world is a noisy place, and never has it been as loud as it is now. We are bombarded with social media, work, and general busyness. When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, we had a camp. When we went to camp, there were no phones and barely any TV reception. Those days are gone. Phones are attached to our hips and follow us everywhere. The constant flow of information is staggering, and in some cases, addictive. Never has it been harder to find inner peace, but if that’s what you’re looking for, God has the answer.
Until next time under the palm, be blessed!
