By Michelle Cottom
When I Was Younger, Peace Meant Something Different To Me Than It Does Now.
When I was very young, I thought of peace as the absence of conflict, much like what comes about after a war stops. As I grew and became a young mother, peace was a quiet morning without children clamoring for attention. Finally, after Asia’s death, peace became an elusive state in which grief would not overcome me on a daily basis.
What I think that all this means is that peace is not one thing to one person. It does not matter how peace arrives; everyone needs their version of it in their lives at times.
Wayne Dyer said, "Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be."
Perhaps this is the best description of all of peace, since peace relies upon acceptance of reality rather that wishful thinking. You will never have peace if you refuse to accept how things are where you are in your life right now.
Of course, this means that peace can be obtained anywhere, in any time, no matter what the circumstances. For me, that means relying on God’s will and His plan for my life.
Horatio Spafford was a successful attorney and businessman in Chicago in the 1870s. His wife and four daughters were traveling to Europe on a ship when their boat was struck by another ship. All four of Spafford’s daughters died in the accident. His wife telegraphed him from England with the words “Saved alone.”
Spafford immediately took ship to sail and be with his wife. When he arrived at the spot on the ocean where his daughters perished, he walked along the ship’s rail, contemplating. Later, he wrote the words to the famous hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.” The first few lines of that song begin:
“When peace, like a river,
Attendeth my way;
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot,
Thou has taught me to say:
It is well, it is well with my soul.”
Horatio Spafford knew the secret of finding peace even in horribly tragic situations. There can always be peace after the storm, and peace can be found in any situation.