Social media describes our culture as being in chaos. News cycles report a back-and-forth type of mentality, keeping us in a place of unease and uncertainty. Wars and rumors of wars. Sex trafficking. Political turmoil. Emptying and splitting churches. Homicides every day. Innocents gunned down.
Life would be easier if we crawled into bed and pulled the covers over our heads. Yet we know the world has always been a scary place. Especially during the first century when Jesus and his followers faced the tyranny of Rome and certain persecution.
Although he was the son of God and capable of miraculously changing everything in the blink of an eye, Jesus underscored the reality of his day and culture. “In this world, you will face trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV).
So how do we live in our chaotic world with any semblance of peace? We focus on the peace that Christ promised us. One quality of the fruit of the Spirit is peace. That beautiful sense of solace we experience when we refuse to live within the prison of anxiety, but rather in the land of peace.
- Where we can sleep all night
- Where the chaos of this world seems almost laughable
- Where we praise God that the Spirit is with us
- Where we do not let worry overcome us
- Where we turn off the negative noise and raise our hands to the God who is above it all
We can, after all, refuse to watch the fear-filled news cycles, staying informed but only for a few minutes. We can click out of social media and refuse to scroll down for more juicy but mentally damaging details. We can spend more time in the Word of God and less time with what my mother called ‘the idiot box’ (TV).
And we can be more intentional about the verb ‘Let’ — which is one of the most powerful verbs ever written. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart … and be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15 TNIV).
As Jesus followers, we can ask our Savior to increase our peace. Then intentionally refuse to let the chaotic distractions steal it away from us. Expressing our gratitude for peace ties a bow around this incredible gift.
As we are sustained with divine peace, we become transformed with a renewed mind. Able to deal with life’s crises in a calm manner. Immune from the side effects of chaos and fear. And praising God daily for the gift of his sustaining peace.
©2026 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved
Image Attribution: Lukas_Rychvalsky / Pixabay
For a review and more information about each of the blog posts in this series, check out Sustain Us, Oh Lord: Finding Strength When Life is Hard — available on Amazon.