#350 - Stop Chasing Peace

Foreign. Hi, and welcome to the Hannah Keeley Podcast. I am Hannah Keeley. Today we're gonna talk about peace. How to stop chasing it, how to stop trying to go after it with this desperate energy and wondering why you don't have it all the time. I'm gonna show you today exactly why you're not experiencing peace, what it is and how to get it. And rule number one is we have to stop have this wrong perception around peace. It's like we're trying to achieve peace, but actually peace is a feeling that comes as a result of where you are abiding. See, peace is a benefit of a relationship. It's not what we're going after. It's the result of achieving what we're going after. I hope I'm making sense to you, but I will. In this podcast, I promise I'm going to show you how this is not as hard as you're making it. And how to really achieve peace is to stop trying to achieve it. Very counterintuitive. But have you ever noticed that's how all of God's stuff is? It's very counterintuitive. Like, how are you exalted? Well, you got to humble yourself first, right? How do you have more? Well, you got to give. Like everything is counterintuitive in the kingdom, including achieving the state of peace. Very counterintuitive. It's all about a relationship. And peace is the benefit of having intimacy with Jesus. It's kind of like all the things that we're trying to get as benefits of sleep. Okay, that's an example. So let's say we're trying to get better cognitive functioning, we're trying to improve our immune system. We're chasing after how to improve our memory, how to stay focused, how to prevent weight gain. You can see how this can be like a chase, right? But actually these are all benefits of having adequate sleep. Have you ever thought about that? Like, what if everything, like all these physical benefits that we're trying to get, let's just go to bed. It's not that hard. Like, if we just had adequate sleep, then it would help us maintain a healthy weight, it would help us maintain healthy cognitive functioning, it would boost our memory, it would boost our immune system. All these things that we're trying to get. Well, what supplement do I need and what hack do I need to use? And let me get like whatever is the latest thing on, you know, what's. What's this influencer telling me to do? Go to bed. Like, it doesn't have to Be that hard. So here we are as a people who want to have peace. First of all, let's go ahead and decide what is peace. Because the Bible talks about peace. We sometimes think it's like this feeling of calm, right? That's why we hear peace and calm together. But actually peace is not a sense of calm. Peace, according to what the Bible says, peace is. It is that state of being healed and whole and covered and protected. So in the Bible, there's a Greek word, sozo. It's used actually over a hundred times in the New Testament, and it's that all encompassing word for salvation. So that is what peace means. It's that state, salvation. When you've been saved, rescued, covered, completed, healed and whole. It just is all encompassing. So when you want to achieve peace, when you want to feel peace, when you want to have peace, what you're saying is I want to feel as if everything is a okay. And that's what that sozo feeling is. It's not just like being rescued. It is that state where everything is completed. So for example, when the woman, there's a woman in the Bible who had an issue of bleeding, right? 12 years, she had suffered so much. And there was this time Jesus had come into town and she kept saying to herself, if I can just get out of here and just touch the fringe of his garment, I will be healed. So she acted upon that and she grabbed hold of him, elbowed her way through the crowd, grabbed hold, and sure enough, she immediately felt that that bleeding issue was resolved. Her body was immediately transformed when she touched Jesus. Now Jesus turns around because it says in the Bible that he felt that flow out of him, virtue flow out of him. So turned around and after talking with her for a minute, he said, go. Your faith has healed you, it said, but not just healed you, it has restored you and made you whole. A lot of times when Jesus would heal, he said, your faith has healed you. Go and be made whole. So the wholeness is not just. I'm not just saved and healed. I am now completely, totally restored. I believe when Jesus said, you have been made whole to that woman, that she just, she didn't just have physical healing, she had healing in every other area of her life. All the money she had spent trying to get her physical ailment fixed by doctors, I believe that was done right there. I believe she had financial restoration. I believe she had physical healing and restoration. Like it wasn't just like a band aid, it was made new, healed, completely and totally restored and made whole. That Is that peace that Jesus offers. Now we want to feel like everything is a okay. That becomes something we're chasing. So this is why I'm telling you, stop chasing a benefit that is actually only achieved through a relationship. If you're chasing after the feeling of peace, you're going to be susceptible to every little dangling like bait right, that is around you. Oh, maybe this program, or maybe this supplement, or maybe this program right here or this solution right here, or this diet or this, whatever. We're going to fall prey to that because we're seeing, seeking a feeling. But the feeling comes as a benefit. So I want you to think about this in Psalm 103. It tells us all about these benefits of a relationship with Jesus. So check it out. It says, this is starting in verse one, okay? Psalm 103, it says, Bless affectionately, gratefully, praise the Lord, O my soul and all that is deepest within me. Bless his holy name. Bless affectionately, gratefully, praise the Lord, O my soul. And forget not one of all his benefits. So think about that. So what comes first is we are praising the Lord, okay? We're worshiping the peace you want. The feeling you want comes as a result of the act of worship. And what leads you to that act of worship is knowing that everything I seek is right there in a relationship with Jesus. Everything I'm after, everything, like, if I want to feel okay about my finances, if I want to feel okay about this marriage, if I want to feel okay about my kids, if I want to feel okay about my future, that feeling happens as a result of me just seeking Jesus as my answer. Everything I want is in the presence of Jesus. I want you to think about in his presence. There's no lack, no lack at all can exist in the presence of Jesus. That's why Jesus says, like, right before he was crucified, he had one message to deliver to his disciples. Like his last words, right? And what he said was, abide in me and let my word abide in you. Apart from me, you can do nothing. So you can't have the feeling of peace that comes as a result of everything working okay in your life apart from Jesus. Everything you seek is right there in him. So first verses 1 and 2 say to worship him and don't forget his benefits. Now, what are these benefits? For the next three verses, it tells you exactly what those benefits are. So worship Jesus number one. And as a result of worship, then it says, verse three, who forgives every one of your iniquities, who heals each one of all of Your diseases. So here he is. There's the forgiveness. There's a healing. It says in verse four, who redeems your life from the pit of corruption, who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercy, who satisfies your mouth, your necessity and desire, at your personal age and situation. With good. So that your youth is renewed like the eagles strong, overcoming and soaring. He left nothing out. There's the healing. There's the forgiveness. There's the redemption from all confusion, right? There's the beauty. There's the. There's the dignity. There's the crowning with the kindness and the mercy. There is the satisfaction, like all of your needs, your necessities and your desires. That's what's listed in the classic amplified version. It says your necessity and desire. So it's not just what you need, it's what you want, too. With good. And he renews your youth. So now that energy, it's that passion, it's that zest for life. All of that is like the most incredible benefits package out of a relationship. So once we stop chasing after peace, I want to feel okay. And we start worshiping Jesus and get plugged into him, then all the benefits are there. Everything. He left nothing out. It says, don't forget his benefits. Worship God. Don't forget his benefits. But the worship has to come first. He has to come first. So in Revelation 22:13, it says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. I'm pretty sure that is all encompassing. So when he says that, what he's saying is everything you seek, from the beginning to the end, like the whole thing, from the moment you got that dream to when you are physically standing in the manifestation of that dream, everything from beginning to end, it's Jesus. It all points to him. Now, here's what happens. Sometimes the Lord will give us a vision for something. He'll give us a desire. We'll get this dream this direction. We're like full steam ahead. And then we're going and we're seeking and we're hustling and we're grinding and we're. And we're working right toward this desire, this desired manifestation. We're working so hard for that. And we're thinking in the back of our mind, I'm going to feel okay as soon as I get this. As soon as I achieve this goal, I'm going to feel so peaceful. I'm going to feel everything is a okay. And basically, if you could like, think about, what does peace feel like? Everything is a okay. I'm going to feel a okay as soon as I achieve this. But Jesus says, excuse me, I didn't give you that direction so you would run off and leave me and try to pursue it on your own. I gave you that direction so you would lean more into me and stay connected with me. Because apart from me, you can't do it. You can't do the thing that you're sweating over during the day and you're stressing over during the night. You can't do it apart from him, otherwise you wouldn't need him. He's not just there to give you direction. He's there to give you direction as well as the energy, the insight, the wisdom, and the open doors to make it all happen. So when you take it and run, that's going to feel like a struggle. And then you start trying to pursue peace. And now the chase ensues. And you know, whatever you're chasing is going to run from you. I think it's so funny how my dogs, when they're playing, I have two dogs. I have one Sheepadoodle, one Goldendoodle, and they play together all the time. But they have, like. They'll look at each other, right? As if to say, all right, who's chasing who? And as soon as one lunges for the other, they know, okay, now it's time to run. Like, it switches like that. But they intuitively know, if you're running at me, I'm going to run from you, right? It's that dog energy. So the same thing happens. We have that, like, dog energy around pursuing peace. So as soon as, like, that becomes what I'm chasing now, peace becomes elusive. It's just one. One step off. It's just right there on the horizon. But what happens to things on the horizon? You never reach it because the horizon keeps on getting further and further away the more you walk or run toward it, right? You always have a horizon. So what Jesus is saying, like when he says in Psalms, like, I look to the hills from. And where does my help come? Oh, my help comes from the Lord. Stop looking to the hills for your help. Stop looking at the horizon to achieve that peace, to achieve that finished state. When Jesus is like, no, no, look at me. I wouldn't lead you to this without also providing everything you need and walking you through into the completion. He is the author and the finisher. He's the beginning and the end, the Alpha, the Omega, the first and the last. The whole thing is right there sitting at his feet. So when we're pursuing peace, it's always going to be just one step off. But when we pursue Jesus and seek him, he's like, I am right there. Because he is the source of that peace. He is the finished work. He said it is finished when he died on the cross. He said, it is finished now. I took care of all of it. You just get to show up to this amazing, amazing story that he wants to, like, be told through your life. We just get to show up to it. But if we think, oh, man, I got it. I got to work hard, I got to achieve that feeling that it's all a okay. No, you don't. Because at his feet, everything is a okay. So check this out in John 14:27, because here's. Here's. Before I read this to you, this is important that you understand this. The peace that you're seeking, that feeling that it's a okay. That's what the world gives. And just spend about 10 minutes scrolling and you will see all the ways to feel like it's a okay. You're going to see the way to make more money. You're going to see the way to get the perfect partner. You're going to see the way to lose the weight. And as soon as you get that, everything's going to be a okay. That's the peace that the world gives. So in John 14, this is what Jesus is talking about. That peace that tempts you and tantalizes you. Don't you want to feel okay? Don't you want to feel like everything's working for you now and it's just always one step off? So he says, peace, I leave with you. My own peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed, and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled. That peace that the world gives you is always going to leave you wanting more. You're never going to be able to, like, sit in that place. And the Bible talks about laboring to enter into that rest, that sacred place, nestled and covered by God. You're never going to feel like everything's a okay. If you're trying to chase after peace, which is what the world gives. Because it says when you're doing that, and this is according to this version of John 14:27, is basically saying you are allowing yourself to be Agitated and disturbed. Right? That, that I'm seeking after peace because what I'm actually doing is I'm allowing myself to be disturbed, to be agit. I'm allowing myself to stay in that place where I haven't achieved it yet. There's always something just right out of reach. You are allowing that. I know it may feel like, no, this is just how I feel. Like this is just what's happening in my life. Look at what's going on in my home. Look what's going on with my kids. Look at what's going on with my money. Look at what's going on with my business. Look at what's going on with this relationship. We have all the evidence on why we should feel agitated, disturbed. But Jesus said, no, no, no, sweetie, you're allowing that because you moved out of my presence. Everything we seek is in the presence of Jesus. Have you ever heard like, that thing you want wants you even more, or that thing you're seeking is also seeking you. Have you ever heard that? It kind of feels good, right? It feels like a good little, like, Instagram quote that you can put up and have a lot of really cool things to say about. But if you think about what I'm seeking is also seeking me. What if what you are seeking is not peace, but what if you are seeking that relationship with Jesus? Now you know it is seeking me. Peace is not seeking you, it's running from you. If you're seeking it because the chase is on. But if you're seeking that relationship with Jesus, guess what? He is closer than your very thought. He is right there. He's never left you. He's never forsaken you. He will not abandon you. So what you're seeking is right there in that relationship with Jesus. That's why in Matthew 6:33 it says, Seek, aim at, and strive after. First of all, his kingdom and his righteousness, his way of doing and being right. And then all these things taken together will be given to you. Besides, so what, what are all these things? Well, let's move on up, go back to Psalms and let's look at all the benefits. Okay, that, that all these things, like we're going to look at this like, like, like a science experiment. We're just going to make it so simple and so clear. All the things that you are seeking. In Matthew 6:33, when he says, seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added, all found back when he's talking about worship in Psalm 103, it's the forgiveness, the healing, the redemption, the kindness, the mercy, the satisfaction of your needs and your wants, the renewal of your energy, all those things are just benefits of abiding in the presence of Jesus. Look how cool this is. Like the Bible basically reveals itself. And it's so beautiful to say, well, what are all these things that are now added? They're the added benefits of seeking first his kingdom, his righteousness, that relationship with Jesus that needs to be first. And when that is first place, everything else falls into place. So I want you to think about that. When Jesus first place, everything else falls into place. Now, when you are seeking the feeling of peace, that everything is in place and everything's a okay, what you're actually seeking is intimacy with Jesus. Now, how do we do that? If that comes first, everything else follows everything. All of the benefits, the entire benefit package, it comes as a result of first seeking and abiding with him. He's the beginning and the end. So what does this look like? It looks like blessing the Lord. It looks like worshiping him. It looks like God, I'm not going to seek you for your hand and what you have to give me today. I'm just going to seek you for your presence. I just want to know you more. I want to be at your feet. Think about it. Mary and Martha in the Bible, you know the story, I'm sure, when Martha is running around trying to take care of all the benefits, right? Oh, I need to make meals and I need to make sure everyone's cared for. And she gets so mad because her sister is sitting there at the feet of Jesus and she comes up to Jesus, can you tell my sister to get off her butt and help me out around here? And I can see Jesus in his beautiful, tender mercy. And he says, martha, Martha, Mary has found the one thing and it will not be taken from her. Some versions say, Mary has found the better thing and it will not be taken from her. Think about it. Here's Martha trying to rustle up some grub for people who showed up at her house worried about being a bad hostess. When Mary is sitting at the feet of someone who multiplied enough food to feed over 15,000 people, who has the better option there? Worship the one who. All the benefits flow from that relationship. Right now, just if you're watching this and listening to this and you're like, you know what I have been carrying? Struggle. I have been allowing. You know what the Bible says about allowing agitation, allowing myself to be disturbed, allowing myself to be fearful. If I've been working Harder during the day and carrying more stress at night. Because I'm trying to achieve something, a goal that I think will make me feel like everything's okay. I've just been doing this backwards. So right now we just make an intentional decision right now that Jesus, I just need more of you. I just need to seek you. I just need to abide in you. He's never left. We move away from him in our hustle to reach the things that often feel. You know, it feels valid because a lot of us are like, well, I'm trying to achieve something that God put in my heart to go after. No, he didn't put in your heart for you to go after it. Singularly, he put it in your heart so you would draw closer into him each day, each moment. Abide in me and let my word abide in you. And ask for anything and it will be done. That's what Jesus says. So right now we're just going to make an intentional decision right now that we're going to stop the hustle and lean into the heart. We're going to sit at his feet. That's the better thing. And sometimes it's the harder thing. It's the harder thing to put your hustle on hold. It's the harder thing to not strive because it makes sense in our natural world to strive. The harder thing is to stay seated in that sacred place of abiding in him and letting the Word do the work. Jesus is more than enough. Everything you're seeking is actually seeking you, because everything you're seeking is in the presence of Jesus. And he's never stopped seeking you out. So right now we're just going to decide. I'm going to stay there. I'm going to camp out there. I'm going to. That feeling of peace is just going to be a benefit along with everything else that comes as a result of striving. First seeking first the kingdom. It's all there at his feet. Stay camped out there. He'll never steer you in the wrong direction. Sam.