Thomas a Kempis gave some wonderful advice. This is so freeing, if we could just get a handle on it. He said .. "If thou walk inwardly, thou shalt not weigh flying words." (To walk inwardly is to take my cues out of the soul, my inner being where God dwells, and not from the world around me).
He goes on, "Let not thy peace be in the mouths of men."
But isn't that exactly what we often do? We can get so upset by what someone says, so indignant, so angry, so put off, so hurt, so discouraged, almost despairing, etc. But why should we let our peace be affected by the words of mortals when Jesus said, "MY peace I give unto you?"
This prescription to WALK INWARDLY has really caught my attention and I want to meditate on it until, no matter what upsetting words are flying around me, I won't bother to weigh them because they will have no power to affect my peace, (Psalm 119:23)
Often we sing and pray, in line with Ps.139, "Search me, O God," with great longing in our hearts. Sometimes the Spirit of God points out something specific while we are in prayer. But we can fail to recognize that God also answers this prayer in other ways. Sometimes God will provide certain situations to let me see how I handle things. But in the midst of upset, we can fail to hear the voice of God unless we are WALKING INWARDLY.
When I ask Him, He will check out my soul and tell me what He sees. He will reveal it to me by my reaction in the circumstances which He arranges. Convictions are developed on the basis of regular self-examination.
As I receive all my circumstances from God, examine my true reactions in the light of His Truth and deal with what He shows me, I can have confidence that ..... even when the heat in life is turned up, it is always possible to have peace.
