Why is life so difficult at times?
There is a war going on, and it leaves a heavy weight on your heart like the novel War and Peace.
Here are the FACTS:
- A dissatisfied heart will NEVER have peace…with God, with others, or with self.
- The War is from WITHIN. It is not caused by unwanted external circumstances. It begins INSIDE you.
I offer some thoughts about the concept, conflict, and cause of the private war being waged in our minds.
Why do we still fight?
“All conflict is caused by unmet or unrealistic expectations” (James 4:1).
Unmet or unrealistic expectations…often unmentioned. That is the root cause for all conflict. [Keep this one on file for future reference.]
God offers Peace in the gift of Jesus. Peace is nourished by the most important thing in life: Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength…and love others as yourself.
Our war is a struggle between our love for God and our selfish desires.
War and Peace. That is real life. Many of us know War better than Peace.
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, is seen as one of the greatest novels. I had to read it in high school and college. Sorry to my mom, teachers, and book-loving friends, but I did not understand or appreciate War and Peace at the time.
The names sounded like gibberish to me. It would have been easier to follow the plot if their names were Fred and Wilma, Barney and Betty, Pebbles and Dino.
The novel’s backdrop is war and peace and then war again between Napoleon’s French army and the Russian Czar’s military. The story follows family conflicts played out in the minds of individuals experiencing plot twists of happiness and hopelessness, trust and betrayal, as well as multiple trips to the lost and found love store.
War affects everyone, not just the soldiers. War is a frightening and destructive thing. Hostile conflict produces terror and tragedy both in nations and individuals.
I am more familiar with the historical events written in God’s novel about real individuals facing similar outward and inward War and Peace struggles. I read in awe about Job’s traumatic suffering, Legion’s soap-opera darkness, the prodigal son’s journey to the bottom of the barrel, Ruth’s painful grief of lost love, and the undesirable circumstances that made up Joseph’s nightmare dreams.
These historical accounts were divinely written to inspire and give us hope as we seek Inner Peace in our struggles.
Many of us know the struggle of battling ourselves. This inner conflict often grows as we feel despair over tough situations or heavy anxieties.
We struggle within ourselves, and no one comes out ahead. Unfortunately, there is little peace and often no hope. This inner conflict takes place in our minds and stems from our hearts. The fight goes on day and night.
GOD’S GIFT TO US IS THE SOLUTION TO OUR PRIVATE WAR.
Though an army camps all around me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident (Psalm 27:3).
Life. Love. Peace. Hope–Christ in us.
THEN, WHY DOES THIS WAR CONTINUE TO RAGE INSIDE US?
It is a fight with our own selfish desires. All conflict, inward and outward, finds its roots in unmet or unrealistic expectations (James 4:1).
Where do you think these awful wars and conflicts come from? Do you believe they just randomly occur? Think again.
War continues because you insist on having your own way and struggle with it within yourself. You blame others and direct your anger at them.
You end up waging war against your own soul. (1 Peter 2:11).
Suffering. Sickness. Self-centeredness. (Dare I say it?) Sin.
[Note: I see sin as the attitude and actions of loving yourself more than loving God or others.]
We were created to seek good and happiness, but we cannot control the hurts and challenges we face. We sit on the fence between love for God and love for our selfish desires. So, we fight, fuss, and feud with God, with others, and with ourselves.
At some points in life, the unwelcome circumstances turn out the lights.
What can you do when night is dark…again?
Have you read your Bible?
- HAPPINESS AND PEACE COME FROM GOD’S WORD IN YOUR HEART, NOT FROM YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
God’s Word is your sword and shield. It is peace for your heart (John 16:33). God will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord! (Isaiah 26: 3).
YOUR MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE, NOT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
The War for Peace starts with how you control your thoughts and feelings about life.
How do you view your life? Does it seem more like a burden than a gift? Do you feel your situation is more negative than positive?
One of the War and Peace characters told his friend in despair to find peace by “thinking less and appreciating more.“
EMBRACE LIFE MORE AS A BLESSING THAN A BURDEN.
God showed us that our perspective on life is shaped by our thoughts.
You have a choice. You can dwell on the worries of the past or future. This path often leads to anger, anxiety, or disconnection from God and others.
God did not reply to Job’s question of “Why?” Instead, God showed His greatness and goodness that was far beyond what Job could fully understand.
Will your restless soul learn to see life without answers to the painful questions of “Why?” Like Job, you can choose to surrender and trust in God’s greatness and goodness for you.
Your private War and Peace could find a truce this week and embrace a new view of life.
Tolstoy wrote of Pierre’s heart and body in captivity now freed by the philosophical influence of his poor friend, Platon. (I might have the characters wrongly identified, so replace them with Pete and Pat.)
“Now he (you) had learnt to see the great, the eternal and the infinite in everything… and now took pleasure in observing the ever-changing, infinitely great and unfathomable life that surrounded him.”
The same suffering hero from War and Peace also showed his strong faith in God during tough times with a simple way to find contentment in life:
“The great thing is to get on with other people.“
There is the key. Tolstoy offers the novel idea that was spoken into existence through endless ages. Every page of the #1 Textbook reminds us:
“Treat others the way you wish to be treated...Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you”(Ephesians 4:32).
LOVE IS WHAT MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING.
Happiness is not a matter of freedom over captivity, or fun over suffering, or health over sickness. It is not dependent on the size of the pile or the depth of the pit. Happiness is connected to a love more influential than any unwanted or unpleasant circumstance.
LOVE IS WHAT MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING.
In God’s Word, I read about those who became conquerors in their struggles for peace and happiness when they found a love that made life meaningful.
Job chose to live in love despite the tragic circumstances. “The Lord gave me everything I have, and they were His to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord…Though God slays me, I will still trust and place my hope in Him.”
Legion regained control of his mind and went everywhere talking about the greatness of God’s love. The broken, disillusioned prodigal son came to his senses and found love in his father’s embrace.
Faced with heart crushing pain and poverty, Ruth told her grief-sickened mother-in-law, “I will go where you go, live where you live, and your God will be my God.” Ruth chose to live in faith and love shaped by the providence of her God.
Hated, abandoned, enslaved, betrayed, and imprisoned Joseph said it best about how one views his/her life. His heart and mind were shaped by God’s love instead of circumstances he never dreamed about. “God turned into good what others meant for my evil.”
There is a war for control of your mind. We battle guilt, worry, anxiety, fear, stress, insecurity, resentment, bitterness, and unforgiveness.
We need to learn how to guard, strengthen, and renew our mind as well as our heart.
How?
*DO NOT BE LED ASTRAY FROM THE SIMPLICITY OF LOVING JESUS FIRST AND MOST.
How?
- Sit down with God’s Word and soothing music.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Take your thoughts captive and bring them back to God with your heart’s desire to live and love like Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
How?
- DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK. (That is wisdom from God’s heavenly letters as well as Tolstoy’s earthly War and Peace.)
Just because you think and feel something does not make it true. We all get confused and delusional because our self-centeredness distorts reality. Your heart and mind are more deceitful than anyone or anything else (Jeremiah 17:9).
Do not trust your thinking or your feelings. Trust God’s Word. It is ALWAYS and FOREVER relevant and reliable, trustworthy and true.
Listen and consider this practical advice from God, the caretaker of your soul:
Give your anxious thoughts to God…Pray (talk to God) about everything…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Think about good things (Philippians 4:6-8).
The War has been won. God is with us. God is for us. God loves you and God likes you. Yes, God likes you, so smile a little. Feel God-given peace in your mind and heart.
How?
- Preach to yourself. Pray truth into your soul, mind, and heart.
*Here is one of my multi-daily prayers. This is how I fight my thoughts and feelings with the truth all year long!
Thank you, Lord for loving me FIRST and MOST. Thank you for loving me ALWAYS and FOREVER.
Thank you for your love that WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING LESS than IMMEASURABLY LIMITLESS and INFINITELY ENDLESS.
Thank you for your grace at work inside me to give me the desire and power to love You and others with that SAME LOVE!
*PS And here is my daily request for God’s great blessings on you.
May God’s mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you (Jude 1:2).
Let your mind hear the words from my heart, “EYES UP! I LOVE YOU!”
LOVE FIRST...LOVE MOST 