Today I have been contemplating: what exactly is peace?
In the dictionary, peace is basically defined as either a state of tranquility or non-waring nations. What I wanted to know was what is the Lord's definition of peace? In Elder Holland's talk "Come and See" he described what peace really means:
The Lord has probably spoken enough such comforting words to supply the whole universe, it would seem, and yet we see all around us unhappy Latter-day Saints, worried Latter-day Saints, gloomy Latter-day Saints into whose troubled hearts not one of these innumerable consoling words seems to be allowed to enter. Consider, for example, the Savior’s benediction upon his disciples even as he moved toward the pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary. On the very night of the greatest suffering the world will ever know, he said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
That may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart.
I thought it was interesting to find out that peace is an actual commandment. Essentially, when I am not at peace, I lack complete faith and trust in God. So, I have been trying to work at being at peace. Which to me means not worrying about all that is going on around me, but trusting that everything will work out. One of my father's favorite scriptures was "All things work together for good to them that love God." If I truly love God, then I shouldn't have to worry because everything will work out the way it needs to work out.
Using 20/20 hindsight vision, it is easy to see the principle of this message. When I was in college, I worried I wouldn't marry well or that I wouldn't marry at all. For some reason, this caused a lot of stress in my life and a lot of uneasiness. Usually, the times I was most depressed over it were the times I was the furthest away from the Holy Ghost. Then, I was married to the most amazing man and that solved that worry. Only, there was more worries to add. I kept thinking, "What if I am never able to get pregnant." We tried for two years and weren't successful. We had miscarriages and I became extremely stressed about the situation. I was worried I would never get to have my own child. Now, almost 8 months pregnant, I worry whether or not the baby will be healthy. It really is ridiculous and needs to stop. I need to take God's commandment to heart and not be troubled or afraid.
What is peace? Perhaps peace is the ability to fully trust in God's plan. What brings more peace than knowing everything will be okay? I can't think of anything. Who needs 20/20 hindsight when we all have the ability to have 20/20 future-sight?
Great message. Wow! Eight months along ... exciting!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I like that. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law keeps reminding me that there are good worries and bad worries. Good worries are ones that help us progress and get stuff done, like getting your homework finished on time. They are things we can do something about. However, the bad worries, need to be eliminated because they are ones we have no control over, such as the worries that you mentioned in your post--ones we can't really control. So yeah, trust in the Lord that everything will turn out alright and then take care of the things that you have control over :) Peace out! :P
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