Do you ever get the feeling things are a little off-kilter, something’s not right, as if you aren’t in-sync with the rest of the world? It can be unsettling, to say the least. You go through the motions of the day, but everything is just not as you feel it should be.
What I’ve noticed is, when we aren’t at peace within ourselves, we can’t seem to feel right about anything else. When all of this is happening it feels like our “centeredness” is missing. I call it centeredness because it’s that part of us which guides us through the day in a way where we can cope with whatever is thrown at us. When our centeredness is missing, our coping skills will seem non-existent.
I have a friend who is generally able to glide through life, not much gets them down or throws them for a loop. Recently they went through what they characterized as a very dark time. Nothing was right. Everything felt off. This person simply began to shut down in a lot of ways, and especially in interpersonal relationships. What they did was to shut out everything except for a time of prayer for healing and wholeness.
It seems to me, our centeredness is where we are in touch with God, and are able to discern what God wills for our lives. When we get off-kilter or uncentered then, it would seem logical for us to seek a re-connection to God. When God is at our center we will find our own centeredness.
The world can be a rough place to exist. We go through so much every single day, without God centering us, we are never going to find and experience the peace which Paul speaks of in Philippians 4:7. Paul talks of “The peace that passes all understanding.” That kind of peace refers to a supernatural inner peace. It is granted to those who believe and seek a real connection to God. This peace allows us to remain serene and confident even amid turmoil, strife, chaos, vitriolic expressions, and even violence. In the midst of the aforementioned, it doesn’t seem logical that the calmness of this kind of peace is possible. That’s why Paul says it “passes all understanding.” And yet, this kind of peace is real and possible when we are centered in our being with God.
More and more, I have felt the need to draw on this centeredness. Without a connection with God, I would find existing in this world intolerable. Real hell has been characterized as being absent from God. I would concur with that.
I happen to believe communing with God in the early moments of my day, sets the course for me. In the middle of the day, when things begin to get hectic and feeling out of control, more moments with God restore my centeredness and ability to keep moving forward. And finally, a truly restful night is possible only when I give over all the worries and anxieties of the day to God. In turn, God gives over a peace that allows me rest and to find the center of joy God promises, and to all who believe.
My prayer for each of us is…May we seek God where we find God. May in our times when we are most ill-at-ease, most burdened, feeling weighed down, seeing only the darkness and not the light, we return to the center of our being where God waits for us. May God reassure us that our burdens can be off-loaded and we can find real peace. Amen.
Your companion on the Way,
Pastor Tom