Peace Isn't Circumstantial

Somedays I feel such a peace and calm and it has nothing to do with my circumstances. One day I stepped on the scale and got a good number. The thought occured to me- I am not feeling peace because the scale gave me a good number- the scale gave me a good number because I am feeling peace. The good results on the scale was the fruit of being at peace. That seems like the way it ought to be. Find inner peace and the rest of life's struggles fall into place.

Another benefit of inner peace is that it gives glory to God. Recently I worked through some painful memories and it occured to me that when I am stressed, rebellious, living in sin, overwhelmed by life, running around like a chicken with my head cut off... like most Americans are these days, I am actually stealing something from God. I belong to Him, He created me to enjoy a relationship with Him forever, and if I am living a life of chaos- then He doesn't get to enjoy what is rightfully His.
I imagined it to be similar to companionship with a dog. Suppose I purchased one at great cost. My primary goal was to enjoy companionship with it. Then suppose someone stole it from me and abused it, neglected it, robbed me of my enjoyment of it. Imagine that ten years later the dog was restored to me- at the end of its life. I would have been robbed of valuable time and the one thing that I longed for-companionship.
If we compared this to our relationship with God, we see that He purchased us at great cost to Himself and we are rightfully His. Suppose we live in bondage all of our lives to sin and wrong thinking- then we are robbing Him of the companionship He so desires. Even if we truly are saved from eternal separation and we are restored to Him at the end of life -we have still missed out on the pleasure of enjoying a deep satisfying relationship with God during our earthly life.
We have all heard stories on the news of children who have been stolen and sometimes we hear of one being returned- but I would guess that life is never the same and there is always pain associated with the lost years.
I want to enjoy God now while I am alive. I want to trust Him, rely on Him, study His Word and learn more about what pleases Him. Spending time with Him gives me peace and calms my soul.

Recently I rented a small cabin at Green Valley State Park near Creston and a huge storm blew up complete with tornado. The ranger drove up to my cabin and told me where to take shelter if I heard the sirens go off because the cabin wasn't storm proof. I smiled and told him that I believed my life was in God's hands every single day and that if the Lord decided to take me out in a tornado- I figured He could do it whether I was hiding in a concrete bathroom building or sitting on the porch enjoying the storm. And I meant it- I felt peace. I was not afraid of the storm. God knows the path of every tornado and lightning bolt. My trust is in Him and not the camp bathroom building.