Susan Dies 0:38

Welcome to the One Yes at A Time podcast. My name is Susan Dies and I'm here with my friend and co-host Keidra Hobley... and today we're talking about peace. Like who doesn't want peace? Absolutely. I want it. Right. And not just any peace. The title of our podcast today is Say Yes to Perfect Peace. Mm-hmm. I mean, is that even possible? Yes, it is. In the world that we live in today?

Keidra Hobley 1:00

Yeah, absolutely.

Susan Dies 1:01

When we consider the unrest? Yes. The civil unrest? Uhhuh. The political unrest? Mm-hmm. The unrest that we see going on in countries all around the world? Unrest in our cities, in our communities, in our families, even in our own heart. What would it look like to live at peace in all of this chaos?

Keidra Hobley 1:19

Mm. The first thing that came to my mind when you were saying that was I just envisioned Jesus... in the boat... with the disciples... on the water.. Mm-hmm... in the midst of the storm. And he was laying there, on a pillow, fast asleep.

Susan Dies 1:31

I love that. Like that.. He was a perfect peace... image.

Keidra Hobley 1:34

That, yes! And so that's the image that came to mind when you described all those things that are going on in the world. All the chaos that's going on around us... we can still choose to pull up a pillow and lay down and rest in the midst of that. To me, that's perfect peace. Right.

Susan Dies 1:50

I think it's important to note that the peace that Jesus offers us is not the absence of conflict. Jesus told us, 'In this world, we will have trouble... and we're gonna face things that are gonna bring us anxiety, and uncertainty, and a sense of unrest. And that's why in Philippians 4:6-7 the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to tell us, 'Be anxious for nothing'. Yeah. It's one of my favorite verses. Yeah. And we're gonna talk about it in a few minutes.. Good... because according. To the World Health Organization, anxiety disorders are the number one mental health condition, not just in the United States, but all around the world. And underlying all of our anxiety is our tendency to worry about the things that we cannot control. And yet studies show somewhere between 85 and 91% of things that we worry about never come true. Wow. And of the percentage of things that do come true about one in three have outcomes that are better than expected. So that means that more often than not.. Mm-hmm... we're worrying over things that may never happen letting worry steal our peace unnecessarily. And I think that's why today's podcast is so important. God has told us how we can experience perfect peace regardless of what we're going through. And so I want us to start with John 14:27. So do you have that one?

Keidra Hobley 3:09

I can look it up. Let's see. "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Susan Dies 3:21

So what stands out in that verse?

Keidra Hobley 3:23

That he left peace with us. Okay. And it's not like the world's. That's the two biggest things that stood out to me. And then We have to make a choice. We have to choose not to let our hearts be troubled. We have to choose not to be afraid.

Susan Dies 3:35

That's right. Something that stood out to me is in the original language, it's the word Irene. Okay. E-I-R-E-N-E. And it means wholeness. Peace means wholeness. When all the essential parts are joined together. So I want you to think about that. The peace that Jesus gives is wholeness. And so I was listening to a podcast just this last week with Rick Warren. Mm-hmm. Do you know who he is? I do. He wrote Purpose Driven Life. Mm-hmm. A well known pastor out in California who lost his son to suicide. And they were talking about how can you have joy and how can you have peace when your heart is breaking into a million pieces? This is how. We come to Jesus with the million broken pieces, and he puts us back together again... because his peace brings wholeness. That's so good. That's so vivid, isn't it? That is. The other thing that stands out to me in this verse is that Jesus said, in this world you will have trouble.. Mm-hmm. but I'm with you. Mm-hmm. Don't be afraid. I was thinking about that. We had my grandbaby here, over the Thanksgiving holidays. And she's in this stage right now where she gets scared easily. Mm. And I can hardly stand it because I don't want her to feel anything except secure and loved when she is in my presence. Yes. But when she gets scared she runs to one of us and of course we wrap her up in our arms and say 'it's not scary'.. Mm-hmm. You know, it's okay. There's nothing scary in Fufie's house. That's my grandma name. Fufie? Uh. Fufie will... How did I not know that? Oh, that's for another day. Okay. But immediately she feels safe.. Yeah... because she's with someone who loves her, who reassures her and lets her know, as long as you're with me. Mm-hmm. you don't have to be scared. And I think it's that same childlike trust that Jesus wants us to have in this promise... to know that as long as we're with him, it's gonna be okay. Yeah. Like he is got us. You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to be troubled. You can rest in my presence. Yes. That's so good. What do you think about that?

Keidra Hobley 5:28

I'm going back to what you said about the, definition of peace that Jesus gives us wholeness. Mm-hmm. Because the world cannot put our broken pieces back together. Mm-hmm... but Jesus can. Right. And Jesus can. Yeah. I love that.

Susan Dies 5:40

Earlier I mentioned Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing.. Mm-hmm... but in everything by prayer and supplication, bring me everything, the big things, the small things, the trivial things, the life changing things, but do it with thanksgiving. Yes. That's hard. But that's part of the condition. Let your request be made known to God and the peace of God... his peace.. will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. So the condition for us to experience that peace of God... is number one, we bring it all.. Yeah. Anything that's causing us a lack of peace to God in prayer. You know, So often we dump all of our anxiety and stress and problems on other people.. Mm-hmm... who are willing to listen, but they can't fix them. Right? Mm-hmm. God wants us to just bring them to him. Why is it that so often we go to him after we brought it to everybody else? Yeah. And we Don't have to leave anything out because he already knows it all. Yeah. And God wants to take that anxiety and replace it with peace that is beyond our understanding.

Speaker 6:39

That second condition for us to experience this kind of peace is we need to thank him in spite of whatever anxiety we're feeling. Mm-hmm. Lord, thank you for being with me. Mm-hmm. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for inviting me to come to you. Thank you that you're in control. We don't have to thank him for the situation itself..

Keidra Hobley 6:57

Yes. We don't have to be thankful for.. the circumstance, but we do have to be thankful in the circumstance. Right.

Susan Dies 7:03

Prayers and gratitude and prayers of gratitude help shift our focus from the problem to the one who can fix them. Mm-hmm. And when we come to God in this way, the promise is that he will guard... his peace will guard.. Yes... our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Keidra Hobley 7:21

I just literally see a armed soldier standing, in position in front of my heart.. Mm-hmm... and in front of my mind. And anything that tries to come against either my heart or my mind that's not of God... that armed soldier is there.. Mm-hmm... to not allow it to come in. Right. And so I think that's important. We can't do that for ourselves. Praise God that his peace is there to do that for us. Right. Yeah. Right.

Susan Dies 7:43

One of my favorite verses on peace is Isaiah 26 3. Okay. It says, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you." Yes. I love that. That's really where the title for today's podcast came from. The more intentionally we focus our mind and our thoughts on Jesus, as we trust in him... the more we turn from thinking about our problems.. Yeah... to bringing those problems to him.. Mm-hmm... we can experience peace. We can't be focused on two things at one time. Mm-hmm. Even though so many thoughts can race through our minds.. seemingly simultaneously, and they just keep coming.. Yeah... we can choose which ones we're gonna settle on. I love that verse that talks about bring every thought captive to Christ. We have to march our thoughts right up to the Lord and say, 'Are these thoughts that we need to hold captive and keep, or are these thoughts that we need to get rid of?' Yeah. If it's something that is gonna benefit us... if it's gonna build us up... if it's gonna point us to the Lord and to his promises.. Yeah. Yeah... those are thoughts we need to keep.. So good... but all the other ones we can release.

Keidra Hobley 8:43

Absolutely. I love the fact that the last two verses that you mentioned, both refer to trusting God. So essentially, you know, you ask a lot of believers 'Do you trust God?' 'Oh, absolutely. I trust God.' Mm-hmm. 'Then why do you lack peace? Because it's important for us to acknowledge the fact that oftentimes we lack peace because we really don't trust God. Right.

Susan Dies 9:03

Right. When we say we trust God, we have to put it into practice. Yes. But We Have to be careful sometimes because I think about a time in my daughter's life that was just really difficult. And she loved the Lord. She woke up every day... starting in the word, but there was just this spirit of oppression.. Oppression. Mm-hmm... over her and it was just so hard to break. You know, sometimes that happens. It doesn't mean that she didn't trust God or that she didn't want to be released from that.. Yeah. She was doing, everything she knew to do. But I just remember as a mom, that was such a hard season because every morning she would come and I could see it on her face.. Mm-hmm. And just open up my arms and she would crawl into my lap.. Mm-hmm... even though she was between her senior year in high school and the summer going off to college. And I don't think she would mind that I share that. I know that she shares it as part of her testimony and just how she had to work through all that. Yeah. And I think it was just this season of testing.. Mm-hmm. But the season is gone. Yes. And the Lord has filled her heart with peace and with many wonderful things. Yes. But I had to be really careful in that season. She was already hurting. Mm-hmm. And so I didn't wanna make it seem like you're not doing enough. I wanted to always encourage her. Yes. And I don't know all the answers. It can be so complex. So it just made me think about that when you're talking about trusting in God. Yes. You know. But I definitely get what you're saying. What about 1 Corinthians 1:3? "Grace to you, and peace, from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." If you read Paul's letters, he almost always starts every letter with that because you can't have peace without first having grace. Mmm. One of the things I've learned in Bible study is word order is very important. Okay. In the English language if you're gonna list out a bunch of words, they actually tell you to put 'em in alphabetical order and that it flows off the tongue easier. I don't know if you know that. Really? I learned that in a writer's conference one time... but word order in scripture is also in order of importance a lot of times. And I just love that, that we cannot have peace without having first experienced God's grace.

Keidra Hobley 11:07

That's so good. I, I think us as believers too, with that statement, 'You can't have peace without having grace'... A lot of times when we're trying to do something that God didn't grace us to do... we're stressed and frustrated and worked up, I, just trying to do something in your own strength? In your own strength. Yeah. Your own will. Yeah. There's no grace there to do it. Mm-hmm. And so that's gonna rob you of your peace. That's, that's good.

Susan Dies 11:30

So, yeah. Yeah. I hadn't even thought about that. What about Numbers 6:24-26? The Lord bless you and keep you. Ooh. Yeah. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Mm. I think the thing that stands out to me in this, is the Lord is both the source and the focus of that blessing.. Yeah... that ends in peace. When God blesses us, when he's taking care of us, when he's being gracious to us, when he looks on us with favor, the result of his presence and his provision in our life.. Mm-hmm... is peace. That's good. And I think that's so beautiful. I think there's a song out that's called the Blessing. Yes. I think it's pretty clear that God wants us to experience peace. Mm-hmm. Not superficial peace that passes, but supernatural peace that surpasses.. Come on... understanding. Word play. That's so good., I love it. Okay. That just came to me. Awesome. Thank you Holy Spirit, as you say. He wants us to have that kind of peace that holds us together, when life has fallen apart all around us... and he is the common denominator.. Mm-hmm... in all of these verses that we've been talking about. And I think it's important for us to understand that peace is not something that we're gonna get from anyone or anything else. You know, if we're looking for lasting peace in anyone or anything else other than God, we're gonna be disappointed. Yeah. Even if we have peace for a time.. Yes... it's gonna go away. Mm-hmm. The other thing that was mentioned earlier... we can't force ourselves to feel peace.. Mm-hmm... or to be at peace, especially if we're facing something truly awful in the moment. Yes. I mean, we can't make our heart not race. It's a physiologic response. Mm-hmm. We can't control that, but God can. Mm-hmm. He can calm our anxious hearts. Our part is to simply make that decision.. Yes... as quickly as we can, to turn our attention away from that thing that is causing that lack of peace and refocus our heart and our mind on him. So good. Thoughts about that? Nope. No. Okay. Alright. Well, Can you think of a time in your life when you lacked peace.. Mm... as a believer? You've been a believer the majority of your life. You said. Pretty much my whole life. Pretty much born in the church office. Yeah, you remember that? So a time in your life when you've lacked peace and what you did to restore it? Mm.

Keidra Hobley 13:45

Uh, Again, it's in the presence of the Lord. Yes. Mm-hmm. I, I can recall as recently as this past week. Okay. So just because you've been in the Lord a long time, that you won't experience times where you lack peace. But just last week having a conversation with someone and, they just were not hearing me and it was getting frustrating. Okay? And so it, attempted to rob me of my peace in that moment. And so I just made the choice to vote with my feet. I said.. Vote with your feet? Did that mean you left? My feet. I stepped away from the conversation and, I tried as best I could to graciously bring it to a close. But I stepped away from it because.. Mm-hmm... I wanted to maintain my peace.. Okay... and I felt it leaving me. And so you mentioned in the last episode about solitude. Mm-hmm. So I just chose to go and get in the presence of the Lord, and that's how I restored the peace that I felt was starting to leave me. Mm. And so it's just getting in his presence. I love that. Yeah.

Susan Dies 14:41

Yeah, yeah. And it's exactly what we've been talking about. I do think one of the biggest disruptors of our peace is conflict with other people. Mm-hmm. Especially if the conflict is with someone we love and care about. Yes. But sometimes our pride can keep us from being that first person to go back and seek reconciliation or to resolve conflict and sometimes we would rather pout. Yes. Mm-hmm. You walked away. Mm-hmm. And you got in the presence of the Lord. A lot of people walk away and they just wanna go pout about it. Yeah. I remember Beth Moore said that one time she and her husband, Keith had gotten in a big argument and she said, I sat down on the couch for a good long pout and I clicked the remote and up comes one of her videos.. Oh my goodness... talking about this very thing. Oh my. I mean, talk about timely. I love it. for Your own words to come back to you. I thought that was so funny. But sometimes we do just want to nurse our wounds. We wanna tell people what happened to us so that we can get people on our side... and.. Yeah... get some sympathy. And all the while we're just making the issue bigger.. Yeah... and even more difficult to get past. And so I love this next verse, Romans 12:18. It says, "If possible.. Mm-hmm. You know the rest of this verse? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. As far as it depends on you... Yes. Make peace. Be at peace with everyone. Yeah. So it's not always possible. Let's just say there's an abusive situation or a dangerous situation... that's not possible. Yes. This is saying 'if possible'.. Right... as far as it depends on you. More often, it does depend on us. And so when possible, if there's a conflict or even a difference of opinion, or just a hurt between us and another person, God has given us.. Mm-hmm... the responsibility to be the first one to initiate reconciliation, in order to restore peace. Yes. You know, so the first one to feel that conviction of the spirit is gonna be the more mature believer. Mm-hmm. So we're not getting points for this.. Yeah... but my point is... the longer we've been walking with the Lord, this oughta get easier for us. Mm-hmm. And so I just wanted to bring that out. You know, if you're still having just as hard of a time being the first one to go and say, 'I'm sorry', as you did 10 years ago.. Yeah... then there's a problem with that. Yeah. And maybe you don't know this verse... but now that you know it, once we know it, we're responsible for it. Right? That's so good. And so, it needs to be us, even if we feel that we're the one who's been wronged... because humility goes a long way in bringing peace to a situation. I can remember in St. Louis, we had some friends, Betty and Ray Bombadieri, and they were maybe 20 years older. I think they were in their fifties. Okay. And I was in my late twenties. David was early 30 and they were their late forties or fifties, more parental type figures. They were great friends to us, but more in that role where he could really speak to me.. Mm-hmm... in that father authority almost. Yes. And I know when he hears this podcast, he's gonna know exactly what I'm gonna say next. But, a lot of times he would just.. Do you have to be right? Ooh. What would it look like for you to give up your right to be right.. Mm... for the sake of the relationship? Come on. That's so good. And oh, it always got me... but I've come so far in the last 30 years or however long it's been since we lived in St. Louis but as far as, it depends on you and me, we are responsible. Mm-hmm. There's no guarantee that our effort to be at peace with someone else... or our effort to bring peace to a situation... is gonna change their thoughts about it. Yes. But that very willingness to humble ourselves, and to be the first to acknowledge it, even if we were right in the situation, goes a really long way to soften the heart of another person. Mm-hmm. And so even if they don't immediately accept that apology or whatever effort to bring resolution to a conflict, we've done what God asked us to do, and so we need to leave their response to him. That's good. I've learned not to get overly emotional about it. Mm-hmm. I've learned to just say my peace. Mm-hmm. And then I say, Lord, would you just talk to that person for me? Mm-hmm... because they can't hear me. Yes... I know they can hear you. Yes. And it works every time. I love that. It works every time. That's so good. We can walk away without regret because we've done what he asked us to do. And that's all we can do.

Keidra Hobley 18:45

Yes. I'm gonna remember that. I'm gonna say my piece so I can keep my peace.

Susan Dies 18:49

There you go. I like that. So, can you think of an example where you gave up your right to be right.. Mm... in order to be at peace with someone? Or maybe a time when you did offer that apology but it wasn't received?

Keidra Hobley 19:03

Ooooo, well I don't recall a time when I offered an apology that wasn't received, but as the mother of three young adult children.. this is, this is one of the things I am perfecting... is learning how to give up my right to be right. And I love it because, because they are young adults and they are at a stage in life where they're having to learn how to make choices and decisions for themselves, it's so easy for me to just say, okay. I don't have to prove a point. I don't have to show.. Why you're right. Why I am right. My decades of years of life that I've lived, that you have not yet lived, I don't have to do any of that. I don't need to prove my point. And so to me, that's me. Yeah. It's freedom. It is so free. It's freedom. Yeah. And I get to keep my peace. So, to me that's my giving up my right to be right. 'Cause I could try to prove the point.. I've been here, I've done that. I have more experience than you. You should listen to me. And I choose not to do any of that. I just say, okay.

Susan Dies 19:54

Yeah. There's a lot of freedom in that. When you stop feeling that you have to, prove your point or defend everything that you're saying and you just say it. Mm-hmm. Yes. They say what they wanna say. You say what you wanna say. Yes. And do it respectfully. I think peace with God and peace with others allows us to be at peace with ourselves. Mm-hmm. When our heart is not at rest, I think the best place to start, the good question to ask is, am I at peace with God? If not. Why? Mm-hmm. And what can I do about it? Yeah. Am I at peace with others? If not, who is that person? What can I do about it? And then what does God's word say to do in the situation that you find yourself in? If it's with God.. Yeah... obviously we need to repent.. Yeah... and we need to turn back to him. Whatever has created distance in that relationship.. Mm-hmm... or make us feel that we're not at peace with him. That's a very easy one to fix.. Yeah... because he always has open arms.. Yes... waiting for us. And then peace with other people.. Mm-hmm... just being that first person. Thinking about peace with others. Have you ever thought about the difference between a peacekeeper.. Mm-hmm... and a peacemaker? Yeah. Talk about that.

Keidra Hobley 21:02

I think a peacekeeper is the one who avoids conflict. I think peacemaker is the one who addresses it head on and resolves it.

Susan Dies 21:09

That's right. So which one has true peace?

Keidra Hobley 21:11

Mm. The peacemaker. That's right. Yeah.

Susan Dies 21:13

That's right. Jesus didn't call us to be peacekeepers. Mm-hmm. He called us to be peacemakers and in his famous sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:9 Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers.. Yes... for they shall be called children of God." So the peacemakers are willing to enter into the conflict... respectfully... and in love because they actually want to restore the relationship. Yes. A lot of times in our relationships we're so busy trying to prove our point, and who's right or wrong, the relationship aspect of that gets lost. But when we are respectful and when we speak in love, and the goal is to actually bring resolution.. Yeah.. we stop fighting each other.. That's so good... and we start working as that team, whether it's in a friendship, or a coworker relationship, or a marriage relationship, or a parent and a child relationship. When the goal is to hear one another.. Mm-hmm... and to have healthy conversation and communication, and to actually figure out a resolution to whatever it is we may have a difference of opinion on sometimes it's as simple as 'let's agree to disagree'.. Yes... and do that... and I still love you. That's right. So that is the difference between a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. Peacemaking is harder.. Mm-hmm... than peacekeeping. It is. But again, it's the peacemakers that have true peace. And I can't help but think during this Christmas season that Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker. Yes, He is. Right? Luke 2:14 says, when Jesus came to this earth... the angels announced to the shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men." Some translations say, "peace among people with whom God is pleased" and there is nothing in heaven or on earth that God is more pleased with than when we accept the greatest gift that He's given us in his son Jesus. Jesus is the peacemaker between God and man, and the grace and the favor that we have with God is not because of anything we've done, but because of everything he's done. That's it. Alright, well, we're outta time today, but we hope that you'll join us again in a couple of weeks for our next episode. In the meantime, we'd love for you to take a minute to scroll down and leave us a text or maybe head over to our website, one yes@atime.net and leave us a comment or review... because we would love to hear from you. Until next time, we just wanna encourage you to say "yes" to God's perfect peace. Keidra would you pray for us? Absolutely. Father, we thank you so much that you are perfect peace. Amen. We thank you. Dear Lord, we pray right now in the name of Jesus that if our lack of peace is because we have sin in our life.. Mm-hmm... that you would lead us to repentance, Dear Lord.. Yes. That we will repent of that sin and that our peace can be restored. We thank you for peace, Dear Lord, let us keep our eyes focused on you. We thank you for it... in your name we pray. Amen. Amen.