Happy New Year!
That means another year of resolutions you might or might not complete… Let’s be real we all may or may not forget by the end of February what our goals for the year may have been. There is one goal that is often never forgotten but typically not really written. Pursuing the Presence of God, pursuing peace, pursuing life for all the adventure it is. Those things seem to be unchanging. Our goal should always be to end our year better than we came in and by that, I mean having grown in the word, our relationship with Christ, and all the victories along the way.
Peace..
Let’s talk about peace. We just exited the season where it’s all about “peace and goodwill towards all men'' aka Christmas (my favorite time of the year). The best thing is that the phrase doesn’t have to just live within the merry and bright time of year. You can walk in that peace every single day of your life. Oftentimes people don’t realize that anxiety, that unsettled feeling, stress, or worry isn’t something you have to ever accept because Philippians 4:7 says,
“And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].”
That means that whatever you could experience in any given situation you have a choice to tap into the grace and walk in a supernatural peace that goes beyond anything you could ever think or imagine. This is what the Lord has enabled us to walk in.
I learned that more in the past few years of my life. I lived in the same house since I was 6 months old until I moved to college in a state I never wanted to live in. In fact, I told the Lord I would never live in Florida when I was growing up. Low and behold I’ve now lived here for nearly four years. I’ve encountered lots of situations in friendships and relationships that forced me to learn to walk in that supernatural peace that I had always heard about. I always knew about keeping the peace with people in life and always trying to maintain good standing with everyone I knew but I realized that it was all out of a place of pursuing peace and that something was missing. I was pursuing it but I need to get a hold of it and walk in it. So I did exactly that. In my pursuit of peace, I learned that it’s a daily choice you make and not the complicated things of life. That’s one of the very things that took me to this place starting this blog. I want to help people see that option and to choose exactly that, peace. Every single day and always.
Pursuit..
You might hear that word and think “the pursuit of happiness” but what does that even mean? The word simply means “to strive to gain; seek to attain or accomplish (an end, object, purpose, etc.).” Psalm 34:12-14 says this,
Who is the man who desires life
And loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
So as believers we seek to attain the presence of God in our lives daily, we seek to live a life of peace, we seek to attain and choose joy. Pursuing is about going after something, a goal. Lots of people have goals and the goal is the “why” behind the action of pursuing. People pursue the Lord because, in the act of constantly seeking His presence you find the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), you find wisdom (James 1:5), you find peace (Psalm 34:14), and more. Who wouldn’t want to live a life where the peace of God sustains you and carries you? Why not choose to seek peace and joy and all the blessing that comes with this persistent pursuit?
What are you pursuing?
I learned to pursue the presence of God when I quickly realized that a Bible collecting dust on the shelf is the equivalent of ghosting/blatantly ignoring a friend. I can’t maintain my relationships with my friends or my family if I don’t choose to go out of my way to pursue time with them, to make plans, to take time out of my week for phone calls, or send a quick text. That same way I learned that I had to choose to make time for the Lord or I would be treading on thin ice having trouble maintaining my calm and peaceful attitude. That time with the Lord will help maintain that peace. Pursuing the Lord helps you make the choices that will carry you in the easiest and simplest ways. I don’t know about you but I like living happy and unfazed by life. Choose the peace of God, choose to seek those exact things, and maintain it!
Living a life of peace is ultimately one of the main things we should attain and pursue as you’ve read through this piece. The question you should now walk away asking is what are you pursuing? Do you pursue peace or vengeance? Are you pursuing happiness or things that lead to heartbreak? Have you been pursuing time with the Lord or time with your couch? I encourage you to examine yourself and decide today to choose/maintain peace, happiness, and time with the Lord. Here’s to peace and pursuit. May this be the year that peace is the very thing you continue to go after. Happy New Year & Welcome to Pacifico: Peace & Pursuit!
