Where Can I Turn for Peace?

Where Can I Turn for Peace?[1]

B. A. Robinson

Disciple of Christ

As we consistently follow the Lord, He will consistently bless us. As we consistently look for His peace, He will find ways to give it to us.

Peace is one of those things that we are constantly in search of. We like to know that we are at peace with those around us, but more especially that we are at peace with God. It is an endeavor that we are consistently working towards. As we consistently follow the Lord, He will consistently bless us. As we consistently look for His peace, He will find ways to give it to us. There are many ways that we can find peace, but there is one main source from which it flows.

“Where can [you] turn for peace? ... He, only One.”[2] I would like to look at the role Jesus Christ has with peace, how we can obtain it, and what we do with it when we have it.

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace![3]

The prophecies of Christ contained many names for Him. One of the most fitting is the Prince of Peace. The tidings that the angels brought on the eve of His birth rang through the skies and throughout time “with peace on earth, good will to men.”[4] He came to redeem men and bring them back into the presence of the Father where peace is constantly present. He marked the path that we should take and gave us the perfect example of how to obtain peace in this life and in the next. Christ says, “In me ye shall have peace.”[5] It is by following the way that he has trod and doing the things that He had done, and is doing, that we may obtain a lasting peace.

Peace, peace, be still.[6]

When sailing on life's stormy sea, 'mid billows of despair[7], we can reach out to the Master of the seas and have him calm us as he did the Sea of Galilee millenniums ago. He called out to the sea, Peace, peace, be still.

There is great power that can come from being still. That is the time that peace is able to penetrate our hearts and minds and abide with us. Is it any wonder that another name for the Holy Ghost is the Still Small Voice? In the crazy hectic world of our day to day lives, if we are striving for the peace that come from the Lord, we must needs be still and be willing to listen in order to receive it.

Sweet is the peace the gospel brings.[8]

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is something that brings much peace to my life. I lost my great-grandmother this semester and I was waiting for the sadness to come. It is not that I didn’t love her, but I was so sure of the blessings of the gospel that I was at peace. She is going to join her spouse, of whom she has been without for nearly twenty years. I was doing fine and well with her passing until I went to her funeral and saw her laying in the casket. It looked very final. Never would I be able to go to her house and eat her cooking or hear her recount stories of the early years on the farm. But it was reaffirmed to me that this was not final, that she shall live again, as we all will, because of the Atonement and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of Him we are able to be in our families forever. The gospel is a way of life that promises peace and joy in days ahead, if we live the way we are supposed to. We are very fortunate to be able to sample the peace that waits us after this life.

There is an hour of peace and rest.[9]

Prayer is one of the best ways to ask and receive peace unto oneself. I had the Spirit testify this to me multiple times while preparing for the Priesthood Session of the April 2014 General Conference. One of our musical selections was Secret Prayer. The first line starts off, “There is an hour of peace and rest…” But this principle hit home during the performance that prayer is a direct line of communication to our Heavenly Father and that he does indeed hear our pleas and wants and desires and that He will give us what we need if we ask with sincere intent. It is an hour of peace and rest if we make it so.

But what things do we pray for? How can we find this peace? We need do nothing more but ask for it. “Help [me], Lord, that [I] may strive for peace and find [my] rest in thee.”[10] “Oh, give me thy sweet Spirit still, the peace that comes alone from thee.”[11] If we are willing to ask for it and believe that we will receive it, it shall be given unto us.

The great thing about peace, and really any blessing from the gospel, is that once we have gained it, we desire that others may take part and receive the same things. We start praying for them to have the peace that we feel. But our prayers for their peace may come in times of trouble as well. “Bless our loved ones far away; grant them health and peace we pray.”[12]

Bid thine heart all strife to cease; with thy brethren be at peace.[13]

Service is another great way to find peace. It is when we are not thinking of ourselves or what we can gain from our serving others that we can gain an added peace. In A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, there is the verse that replicates the story of the Good Samaritan, but we, as the actor in the verse, were able to gain something far greater from helping the man on the side of the road. “I had myself a wound concealed, but from that hour forgot the smart, and peace bound up my broken heart.”[14] We are also able to love others more when we serve them and create an atmosphere of peace, and it is there the Spirit of the Lord can dwell.

Keep the commandments, in this there is safety and peace.[15]

When faced with the many choices of the day, there is one way that we are guaranteed a way to feel peace in our lives. Peace does not just depend on our words and supplications, but also on our actions. This gospel is one of doing. I know that [t]here is peace in righteous doing.[16]

Fairly recently I attended the temple and was in the Celestial room contemplating the people in my life that I was worried about and was praying for them when a thought, a prompting really, occurred to me: Go home, urgently, and be ready. The thought came so forcefully and so clear that I stood up and exited the room, changed, and drove home. On the way home I passed a friend’s apartment and the thought occurred, check in with her when you get home. I got home and texted her to know if everything was okay. She said that it was. I was baffled and in a kind of anxious state, only because the word urgently was present in the prompting. I texted some of the other people that I had been thinking about in the temple, and they all responded that all was well. Then I called my mother who was at home. I told her about my prompting, but she too told me that all was well at home. It was not until later on the day that the idea popped into my head that maybe it was just to see if I would follow that prompting. I am still unsure as to why I received that prompting, but I am glad that I acted on it. There came a peace that told me that I had done the right thing. I am still confused as to why I did it, but I have realized that understanding does not always come when we want it, but it will come when we need it.

When dark clouds of trouble hang o’er us and threaten our peace to destroy, there is hope smiling brightly before us, and we know that deliverance is nigh.[17]

I know that God will not leave us if we keep Him in our lives. Though the powers of earth and hell may gain up against us and threaten our peace and refuge, God is willing to help fortify us and build us up and deliver us if we do our part. I know that He loves us, that He wants us to have His peace with us always. I invite you to qualify for it and seek for it constantly. As we consistently follow the Lord, He will consistently bless us. As we consistently look for His peace, He will find ways to give it to us.■

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[1] Hymn № 129

[2] Hymn № 129

[3] Hymn № 209

[4] Hymn № 214

[5] Hymn № 122

[6] Hymn № 105

[7] Hymn № 144

[8] Hymn № 14

[9] Hymn № 144

[10] Hymn № 168

[11] Hymn № 135

[12] Hymn № 231

[13] Hymn № 185

[14] Hymn № 29

[15] Hymn № 303

[16] Hymn № 239

[17] Hymn № 19