Let Peace by Your Default

Today we are talking about “letting peace be our default.”

Life gives us plenty of chances to choose stress, frustration, emotions, and/or worry.

But what if, when life hit us, we were able to let peace be our default — a place where we turn before anything else takes over?

God’s peace is not based on circumstances but on presence, and when we live life fully understanding that He is with us, we can learn to find peace no matter what pretty quickly.

Peace is not passive — it’s a choice, a habit, and a spiritual posture that we can learn to carry with us.

What is usually your first reaction when something happens?

Let’s say that you are running late, traffic is moving at a snail’s pace, and you spilled your coffee on your shirt. I know for me this would definitely set a mood for my day.

But if we just paused and took a moment to assess our emotion and where we might be able to have a more focused reaction, then we could move forward and have our day be better than where it started.

I have watched my husband handle things with such patience and discernment, and I admire it so much. He quietly listens and thinks and waits before responding. In watching him, I can see how choosing peace during a moment when things could be running high really can change an outcome.

We can learn so much from others because God equips each and every one of us with different strengths.

God is our true source of peace, and the Bible teaches us that. There are anywhere from 260–420 verses that talk about peace — of course, this depends on your Bible translation.

But regardless God really wants us to know that He is peace. This scripture here Philippians 4:7 is a well-known verse it says, “Then you will experience God’s peace,

which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

It tells us about God’s peace and how it will guard us when we believe and live to follow Jesus.

What great encouragement that we get to carry with us on days where we just feel so much happening in this life.

Have you ever woken up just feeling so … I don’t know, just feeling annoyed?

You recognize it, and so you decide, “I’m not gonna let this rule my day.” You have good intentions, but it’s a struggle, so all day you just keep praying for the Lord to give you peace and like 5 minutes to get it together.

Same.

I think it’s the acknowledgment and the pause that we take that really gives us the gap needed between our good intentions and our reactions. Some days we just have to have that gap to have more grace.

A simple moment like this can help reset us. A simple moment can also give us something unexpected… in that moment we can catch the eye of someone who just gives us a simple smile, and that can help us feel seen and encouraged. Taking a moment to just reset with the Lord is something we should all take advantage of.

When we put peace into practice and let that shape us and remind us that God is with us, we are able to steady ourselves and focus on God more than what’s happening around us.

When you are feeling a little tense, you can say this: God’s peace steadies me. I will choose calm over chaos today.

I can openly say that the last few days I didn’t feel myself. Today has been better, but good grief — I almost went and locked myself in a room until I could be around people.

There have been times that I haven’t been so self-aware, and my reactions outweighed my reflection and peace. Have you done that? You just react to everything without processing first?

If we are not aware and just go by how we feel, we often find ourselves jumping to conclusions, overthinking, and letting anxiety and frustration direct us.

BUT when we lean into God and know what we need to do, we will find that our reactions can be better because we are seeking God’s peace to center us vs. letting our emotions and the pressures of life be the center.

Jesus exuded peace. We can for sure see the peace in the storm — literally — when Jesus is in the boat with the disciples and then when He walks on water to the disciples who are in a boat. Both times there is a literal storm, and both times Jesus is just like… “It’s ok, I’m here, and I will protect you.”

He calmed the storm both times.

Peace is not pretending that everything is fine — it’s trusting God when things are not fine.

When you think about your life, do you remember a time God’s peace sat with you during a storm? Let God be the one to give you the peace you seek.

Peace should be an anchor that we carry with us. We should let our barometer be set to what God calls us to and not the circumstances that we walk through.

To carry peace with us, let’s slow down and remember that God is with us in every moment.

Let’s take a moment to pray today.

Lord, as we have been talking about peace being our default, help us to learn just that. Give us Your peace, Lord. Give us peace of mind in every relationship, decision, and in life in general. Replace our reactive hearts with hearts that are grounded in You and what You offer. Amen.

We as adults can learn a lot from children. Children are reactive before anything, for the most part, and as adults we do our best to help them understand why they might be feeling the way they feel. We know that peace is not really in a child’s vocabulary, but it is in ours, and as we help them learn that peace, we can see how they are growing in character.

The same goes for us — when we learn to adopt the peace of God, we are growing in character, His character.

God meets us in the middle of each moment, and we can choose to acknowledge that. But I think we all know that choosing peace helps us remember that we can choose God over and over again, and when we do that, we learn that He and His peace are constant.

Let’s remember that peace is not just a feeling. It’s a foundation that we choose.

Letting peace be our default means not letting our circumstances guide us but letting God guide us.

God’s peace is a gift — it’s steady and strong, ready to withstand any situation.

Where in your life do you want peace to become your default?