Towards Biblical Peace of Mind

Lately, you may have noticed that we are using a new statement that describes our ministry. More than a tagline, it is a mission statement and therefore a commitment to ourselves, our clients and ultimately to the Lord. The statement is this: We provide financial solutions that bring peace of mind and Kingdom Impact.

While Kingdom impact can often be more obvious and tangible, I have been thinking a lot lately about what it means to have peace of mind and how do we define peace of mind from Scripture? Jesus addresses the subject of anxiety during His Sermon on the Mount.

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? ²⁷ Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God^, and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. ³⁴ Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6

Have you noticed that peace of mind is rare these days? I will spare you the statistics but by any measure, our society today (and likewise I’m afraid within the church) is more stressed, feeling more pressure and anxious than at any time I can remember. Jesus understood how stress and worry can derail your life with him, so he addresses peace of mind right up front in his earthly ministry. Notice He doesn’t say, “don’t make other people worry” (we should also avoid that) but to not worry ourselves. When you think about it, no one can force you to worry. Worry is funny that way – something we generate ourselves that is harmful to us.

This reminds me of Robert Watson Watt – an inventor who became the “father of radar” in 1935, which led to a crucial network of radar installations in the defense of Great Britain during the Battle of Britain. Years later, after the Second World War, Sir Robert was driving in Canada when he was pulled over for speeding because the police were using, you guessed it - a radar gun. Sometimes life is like that – some of the challenges confronting us are things we invent. We create our own problems, and it can be hard to see them because we are standing in the middle of them.

A couple of years ago, Jonathan Haidt wrote his best-selling book The Anxious Generation. Haidt makes a strong case how the digital revolution and in particular smartphones have caused much harm through stress, anxiety, worry, sleep deprivation, and addiction. All these negative outcomes stem from something we invented, began using and then handed to all our children. Again, some of the most harmful things in our lives are things we produce.

So, as we think about peace of mind, here is what it is not:

1. Peace of mind is not merely an emotional state. Not a sentiment of tranquility - peace is not a mood. Moods can change from moment to moment, but peace of mind is grounded in unchanging truth.
   
   
2. Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict – you can be in the biggest battle of your life and have peace of mind…and you can be in relatively good circumstances and be totally upside down internally with stress. Americans have a higher standard of living and more free time than just about any nation on earth. One might think this should bring more comfort yet; we are some of the most stressed people on the planet.
   
   
3. Being at ease or leisure – Have you ever noticed that when your mind is empty and at rest - it will usually conjure up more worry. I have found that true peace comes when my mind is filled with the right things, not the wrong things.

I believe Scripture teaches that enduring peace in my spirit occurs when I have an undivided heart that is experiencing true fulfillment. True peace comes from stability (despite whatever problems or challenges we face). This stability is found only in a satisfied spirit resting in the providence, love, and care of a Savior who died for us and whose mercies are new every morning. Our problem is that rather than resting in Him, we default toward strife. And we strive for the wrong things…the lesser things…we strive for the creation rather than our Creator. We strive after what we want, and we end up manufacturing our own problems when we take matters into our own hands.

True fulfillment does not come with more money, more control or bigger facilities. These things will likely add to your anxiety rather than producing peace of mind.

While it is not wrong to have more resources or more facilities, those things should be the byproducts of following God and seeking Him…not be the objects of our pursuits. They can never satisfy our deepest passions. Pursuing resources will leave you unfulfilled. Or as Ken Blanchard says, “the problem with running the rat race, is even if you win, you’re still a rat!”

So, what is the Biblical path towards peace of mind? Jesus wouldn’t tell us to not worry unless there was a realistic way to live each day. Jesus doesn’t only define the problem in this passage, but he gives the solution - the key to finding peace.

1. Relentlessly eliminate our own selfish aims and desires and replace them with pursuing God alone.
2. Live each moment in faith, refusing to let worry become the focus.

To worry means to have a divided or distracted heart. The original word in the language of the New Testament, is merimnao (μεριμνάω). It means divided or pulled apart. To be pulled away from trust in the Lord. Worry comes when we are not seeking fulfillment in God as the stable bedrock foundation of our lives but are seeking our own fulfillment. Worry keeps us from resting in our Father’s care. When our hearts are divided between the things of God and the things of this world, it leads to anxiety. We look at others and want what they have, or we worry we will not have enough. Then we strive and strive and are increasingly pulled away from God or we believe that God is unaware or uninvolved in our lives. Then I take matters into my own hands and begin to strive for myself.

The root of worry is control. Trying to manage a future that belongs to God. When we think we are in control of everything - bring on the anxiety. But Scripture reminds us, we are not in control. Matt. 6:27: Can any one of you through worry add a single hour to your life?

Notice Jesus is not addressing effort. He is not saying don’t strive at all. He is saying do strive, do seek, but make sure you are seeking Him and his righteousness. It is not just laying down and saying God do it for me…throw the great things on me. Seek - but seek him and His Kingdom, and his right way of living for my life.

From a divided, anxious heart to a heart focused on God alone – Because He is all-knowing.

From striving for control to resting/abiding in contentment. Because He is all-loving.

From a “what if” approach…to an “even if” attitude. Because He is all-powerful.

Money is one of the primary things that can compete for our pursuits. We know this because Jesus just said, ‘you cannot serve both God and money’. When more money is what we are going for, it will lead us to striving and a divided heart and here comes the worry and peace of mind goes out the window.

At Stewardship.Simplified, the financial solutions we provide cannot guarantee a peace of mind outcome, but they do set the climate for undivided hearts to rest in Him and to cease from striving. Because His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Here are just a few ways our ministry can help you live with peace of mind:

• We help people create an estate plan for a financial legacy that honors God and shows love to your family.
• We help churches obtain the capital to accomplish the plans the Lord has laid before them.
• We help investors posture their resources to get the return they need while honoring the Lord with their finances.
• We help manage cash reserves to preserve them while producing more yield to fund ministry and provide much needed capital for Kingdom causes.

As you begin to incorporate these solutions into your life and ministry, the goal is to rely less on our own resources and more on Him!

Final Key Question: What if the most significant thing we ever do with the resources God entrusts to us is to learn to trust Him more. That is true Kingdom Impact!