The Bible teaches us about the peace of God and the peace with God. Sometimes when we talk about peace or rest in our everyday life. Today’s post is about what the Bible says about experiencing true peace and rest!
FINDING PEACE WITH GOD
The peace with God is only through faith in Jesus Christ who reconciles us to God. Romans 5:1-2
We write about this on the page “About Our Faith”.
EXPERIENCING THE PEACE OF GOD
The peace of God is through:
1. Prayer (the Biblical kind of prayer is not “contemplative/thoughtless”) – Philippians 4:6-7
2. Loving God’s Word – “Great peace have they which love Thy law”.
3. Obeying Him – Phil.4:9 “this do and the God of peace will be with you”.
4. Having confidence in God’s loving sovereignty. Perfect peace – Isaiah 26:3
5. It also results from feeding our minds things that are good for a holy people. 2 Cor. 10:5, Phil.4:8, Romans 12:1-2
The peace that Jesus gives…
1. is NOT the same kind that the world gives (in other words, He doesn’t copy pagan techniques to give peace!) John 14:27
2. is NOT identical to an absence of trouble or trials. John 16:33
3. is an assurance that He is with us (the Greek word for peace in John 16:33 and 14:27 likely came from the word meaning “to join”) and cares for us. Hebrews 13:5, 1 Peter 5:7…
So we shouldn’t go looking for the wrong kind of “peace” from the wicked, pagan world 1 Thes.5:3, Isa 48:22, Rom. 3:17, Isaiah 2:6c .
God alone provides inner peace, not by human effort. His peace does not come from or through another person (believer or not) but directly from HIM! Eph. 2:8-9, Romans 3:10-12, 8:6-8, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Isaiah 43:11, 26:12, 2 Thes. 3:16.
There are NO techniques or rituals for Christ’s followers to perform in order to obtain peace. But the method of using techniques and rituals is how other religions try to find peace (e.g. 1 Kings 18:26-29, 36-39, Matthew 6:7f, Exodus 32, also some mentioned in the Bible books of the prophets (Isaiah 2, etc.)).
(For further study on the topic of pagan techniques or rituals which have been wrongly associated with Christianity, please scroll to “For further information…” on this page.)
The peace that God gives, allows us to be “still” (a.k.a. not worry) while we still move ahead. This is the meaning of Psalm 46:10 (cf. Exodus 14:13-15) – of having peace in the midst of joys and sorrows. God’s peace is not a temporary feeling for when your body isn’t moving. Instead, He offers something far better!
REST
1. The “rest” in Matthew 11:28-29 –refreshing and join/yoking with Him for a task/service translated “burden”; speaks of Him enabling us to work with Him. It is refreshing to know His strength and His presence for whatever He calls us to do for Him!
2. Jesus encouraged a time for physical rest/leisure (for people who were busy) – Mark 6:31. He didn’t always run immediately to “meet perceived needs” John 11:6.
3. Keep in mind that leisure-time still needs to be honouring to God, not “self-worship”.
4. Laziness is not a Christian virtue (2 Thes.3:6-13, Proverbs)
5. Sleep: God gives it to His beloved ones. It is vain for us to shortcut our sleep and stay up too late or get up too early. He does not sleep but does watch over us. Psalm 3:5, 4:8, 121, 127:1-2. If we cannot sleep, we can think about who God is and what He has done. And we can choose to praise Him! Psalm 63:6-8, 143:4-8, 149:5.
For further study about unbiblical methods to try to gain a sense of peace or rest…
- Here is a free pdf handout from another Ontario mom and Christian counsellor regarding the topic of finding peace through yoga or mindfulness techniques. It is an excellent presentation and posted with with the author/presenter’s permission. It is entitled “Mindfulness versus the Mind of Christ”. Click on the graphic (left) to download this printable (pdf format).
- Another place to find written information about this topic of mindfulness is at Lighthouse Trails Research in booklet format here.
- Lighthouse Trails also sells an excellent reference-type of book entitled “A Time of Departing: How Ancient Mystical Practices are Uniting Christians with the World’s Religions” by Ray Yungen. Here is an example quote from his book:
“[Tricia Rhodes] describes a deep-breathing exercise in which the practitioner is to breathe out the bad and breathe in the god, another example of the mantric methods used by mystics in many world religions. Listen to Rhodes give instruction on how [a Christian is to] prepare for prayer time:
“Take deep breathes, concentrating on relaxing your body. Establish a slow, rhythmic pattern. Breathe in God’s peace and breathe out your stresses, distractions, and fears. Breathe in God’s love, forgiveness, and compassion, and breathe out your sins, failures, and frustrations. Make every effort to “stop the flow of talking going on within you – to slow it down until it comes to a halt.”
I don’t remember ever reading in Scripture that I could partake of God’s love by physically breathing it in or could rid myself of sin by breathing it out….Rhodes encourages readers to use the Jesus Prayer in which the name of Jesus is focused on and repeated. She also says what so many other contemplatives have said in their discontent with simple faith and their disillusionment with the power of the Word of God: “Reading, studying, or memorizing God’s Word will only take us so far in our quest for spiritual growth.” This is my point – contemplatives teach that faith in Christ and dependence on is Word is just not enough…” (end of this quote from “A Time of Departing” book)
4. We also highly recommend these two videos for Christians to view:
- Ray Yungen (now home with the Lord) did a video seminar, giving an overview of what contemplative prayer is and why knowing about this matters in Christianity. That video is now available to watch online for free here: Contemplative Prayer: The New Face of Mystical Spirituality.
- Caryl Matrisciana was born and raised in India and travelled back there (from living in USA). She is a Christian video-journalist who made a documentary about “Christian” yoga and why it is NOT Christian. Her (free) video is entitled “Yoga Uncoiled: From East to West” (A look into the practice of yoga in the church). It is available by clicking on that title link.
A quote about yoga from a book, “Coping with the Cults” by Lori MacGregor, pp. 127-129:
“In truth, Yoga exercises are not just of a physical nature. They cannot be separated from their mystical, Hinduistic purposes. Yoga teaches that there are some 72,000 invisible psychic channels, which constitute an ‘other-dimensional body‘. This “subtle” body is claimed to connect to the real body in seven predominate places, ranging from the base of the spine to the top of the head. The teachings of Hatha (physical) Yoga teach that at the base of the spine lies coiled a great sepent power called kundalini.
A former Yoga teacher for ten years and former vice-principal of a large Yoga school, who is now a Christian comments:
“Every posture is designed to stimulate this power to uncoil itself and rise up through the nerve centres in the spine, which are closely related to the endocrine glands, until it finally reaches the pituitary gland – the thousand petal lotus – and when this occurs after long and disciplined practice, perfect enlightment is achieved.”
A Christian need not be instructed on the significance of the original serpent, Satan the devil (Rev. 12:9)!
The purpose of Yoga exercises is to align the “subtle” body with the real [body] and thereby alter the consciousness of the practitioner in a specified way. The positioning of the body in the Yoga postures opens up the practitioner to “vibrations” which teach him the “wisdom” of Yoga. As a person proceeds with the physical Yoga exercises, it will not be too long before he is asked to practice “meditation” along with the postures. Often this begins with just an urging to “empty the mind of all thought,” and then [eventually urged to] progress into real Hindu meditation.
Christian meditation as taught throughout the Bible is a filling of the mind with the words and precepts of God, and is the exact opposite of Yoga meditation.” (end of quote)
Q: What about exercise routines (e.g. for physiotherapy) to help strengthen weak muscles or realign posture problems which include positions which are the same as a Yoga pose is named? In my opinion, there isn’t any problem with putting one’s body into various positions that it is meant to move into naturally when you’re aiming to strengthen the muscles/bones/etc. to provide better support for your body. That is a different usage of a position compared to trying to de-stress with it to find a sense of peace. Because of its potential temptation to make an exercise routine of Yoga positions into a routine to relax one’s mind, I would avoid doing a regular pattern of those since I want to avoid temptation. I’d personally want to do other exercises in-between those positions instead. (But not to fear the position itself – just because a non-Christian uses their right hand to stir a bowl of pudding with doesn’t mean that it’s wrong for a Christian to also use their right hand to do the same movements!)
Q: What about acupuncture pins for pain? Or reflexology? Again, I look at that as, if sharp things go into skin to stop pain at the points where they are sticking into, that’s just like stimulating the nerve endings of neurons/nerves to signal a different touch sensation to the brain that isn’t gnawing pain but rather prickles. Or like putting a hot pack on the skin or herbs/medicines which give a heat or cold sensation (e.g. peppermint, wintergreen) to substitute the pain sensation and give temporary relief and comfort. And massaging of body parts help to work in a similar manner. (That is all old-fashioned science.) But I personally would avoid acupuncture treatments (as well as reflexology and similar) where the practitioner aims to manipulate “energies” along meridians/channels and/or impact a different part of the body through touch (e.g. to get rid of a tummy ache by rubbing a specific part of the foot as if those two parts are connected directly, which, anatomically and physiologically, they are not).
A related-post you might want to read is called, “How Do My Body Parts Communicate with Other Body Parts?”
What Can I Do When I’m Stressed?
While there are some practical things to do to reduce longer-term stressful situations (see here for that post), dealing with immediate stress according to Biblical teaching can be summed up in this:
Like the psalmist David who was overwhelmed plenty of times, simply call out to the Lord (i.e. your Shepherd, your Rock, your Strength, your Shield, your Salvation) about it. It can be a short or a long prayer (time of talking about it to Him) but it must be meaningful, not meaningless sounds. Peter’s call to Jesus was a really quick, “Help, Lord!” when he was beginning to sink. And remember also that God understands our thoughts; we might not always speak aloud and that’s fine – He still hears us.
And remember a Bible verse – read one or ask God’s Spirit to remind you of one that fits the situation.
You may also be interested in this post: