My Peace is Non-Negotiable
As I mentioned previously this really is a place where I will be vulnerable, and share about what I personally am being challenged by as I walk this journey to be closer to the Lord.
I’m sure everyone can relate to going through scenarios in life that really test our ability to stay positive and see past that which is currently creating discomfort in our lives. We all have different triggers in our lives for these, most are derived from some type of event, hurt, abuse or offence from our past.
Its this very reason that we feel triggered, because we want these memories and feelings to remain where we left them, in our past – we grow, we mature, we heal and we change and make every effort necessary to remove ourselves as far away as possible from these, and when they present themselves they bring with them a mix of the emotions that were associated to them in our past.
This week I had one of those days, you know, the kind of day that test your God-ordained need to forgive… yep that kind. I had a scenario where not only did I feel attacked (because I was being attacked), but also was upset by the lies that were being said about a very public time in my life – lies that could easily be exposed, but the simple fact that they were being said by a master manipulator bothers me even more.
My first instinct was to allow my blood to boil, and prepare in my mind an eloquent, articulate and decisively cutting response – but it was at this moment when I was feeling all the emotions of the past that I had a “Tim Ross – Thank you Holy Spirit” moment. I felt the Lord tell me … “What is wrong? I gave you the cheat code”, this was my childhood Super Nintendo NBA JAM “On Fire” mode code time… you know that code that made your player unstoppable against the defence of the opponent, the code that would secure the win, that “BBBBBBB, B+Y+Up” code…
I heard the Holy Spirit like a whisper say “Is it true? What they are saying – is it true? Then why lose your peace, think in ALL that is TRUE, all that is honourable, all that is right, all that is pure, all that is lovely and admirable, all that is excellent and worthy of praise”, right away I jumped on Google because I’ll be honest I could not remember where in the Bible I had read that before – Philippians 4:8, that is where!
I realized my peace is non-negotiable, my peace is usually connected to what I am thinking about, the state of my thoughts which invoke a set of emotions – but if by the renewal of my mind (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23), I focus on what is in Philippians 4:8, my peace will remain.