Latest / The Daily Ripples Podcast / July 21 – The Gift of Peace

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July 21 – The Gift of Peace · The Daily Ripples Podcast

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  To the Daily Ripples podcast, where recovery principles meet our life of faith.
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  Every day, a daily devotional is published online at dailyripples.com.
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  And every day, someone is on this podcast talking about it.
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  Today, it's me. It's me again. It's Cristi.
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  I don't know how I ended up back here, but they trusted me enough to come back
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  and do this alone. So welcome back.
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  Today is July 21st, and we're talking about the gift of peace. Oh, what a gift.
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  The stone. Peace is a gift that grows as I learn to surrender.
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  Ripple 1. Practical. Today I will let go of the need to control everything.
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  I will not chase emotional highs or get stuck in anxiety.
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  I will choose steady actions and allow peace to build through trust, not pressure.
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  Ripple 2 Spiritual The Father gives peace that I cannot create on my own.
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  Jesus shows me a life surrendered in every moment.
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  The Holy Spirit teaches me to live open and willing, receiving grace day by day.
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  What begins as surrender in
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  desperation becomes a steady faith that brings freedom and lasting peace.
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  And then, of course, we'll say the prayer for later.
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  So welcome back, and thank you for joining today and taking a moment out of
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  your busy day, your busy life, to join me.
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  So today we're talking about peace.
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  This is one of my favorite things to actually talk about, to experience,
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  because I lived a life at one point that was everything but peaceful.
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  I am not an alcoholic, but I know that I was married to one prior to my current marriage.
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  And that individual did not consider themselves one.
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  However, every weekend, they would leave the home on a Saturday,
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  go with friends, and wouldn't return until Sunday.
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  And the time that they were away consisted of drinking.
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  How do I know? Because when they returned, what they smelled like,
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  their behavior, the whole nine.
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  But that wasn't how the marriage began.
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  So I wasn't aware of this part of their life.
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  They hid it for quite a while. It wasn't until we moved to another state,
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  actually, that it all came out.
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  And the first time that they actually left on a Saturday, we had recently moved and they left.
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  And when this would happen, there's no answering text messages,
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  phone calls, any of that.
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  So to me, oh my goodness, are you dead? Are you alive? Did something happen.
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  But again, I'm new to a state. I didn't know what was going on.
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  How could this be? And it wasn't until the next morning that I realized what the situation was.
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  Promises were made. Promises were broken.
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  So I started living the life of every Saturday, the anxiety within me would
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  raise up because I knew what was coming.
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  And so I would ask, are you going out tonight? Oh, I don't know.
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  They would string me along knowing very well what they were going to do.
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  So I would never enjoy my weekends because I just had such anxiety of going through that again.
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  And plus I had a teenager in the home.
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  So trying to control the situation, trying to keep my teenager sheltered from
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  this behavior, all of those things,
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  just took away my peace, like totally.
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  But at some point, I had to decide this was not the life I wanted for myself.
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  This was not the life I was meant to live.
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  I could not change the other person. I could not control the other person.
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  The only control that I had and the only change that could be made was within me.
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  Yes, still went to church. Yes, I still had faith. Yes, I still prayed. Yes, I still cried out.
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  But unless that person was willing to change, make amends, take accountability,
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  realize that they were powerless, changes would not come.
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  So I decided that I had to be the change that I wanted to see.
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  So with age and time, peace has become a very important part of my life.
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  And I will tell anyone, you have to want it bad enough for yourself. You have to.
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  If you are living in chaos right now, and your life is constantly in turmoil,
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  and as you look around you, family, friends, people, circumstances,
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  job, everything just seems always in flux and always upside down.
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  And you can't seem to find peace.
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  Something has to change.
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  But the only thing and the only person that you can control is you.
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  Now, am I saying people, you need to go divorce. No, because I know many people,
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  that have found peace and divorce was not the answer.
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  They found other successful ways. So I'm not advocating that in the least.
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  What I'm advocating is that you do the work to find peace within yourself,
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  have faith in it, Rest in it,
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  and don't allow anyone or anything to disrupt it,
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  because some of it is within your control.
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  And some of it comes from a higher power because life really does be lifing.
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  Oh, my goodness, does it?
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  But as you learn to surrender, as you learn to understand that you can't control
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  everything and everyone,
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  and all you can control is you, you'll begin to find that peace.
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  That was the practical. Today, I will let go of the need to control everything. And that's hard for me.
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  I am one that, look, if I'm a part of it, I'm going to have to try to control it some way, somehow.
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  Like, are you kidding me? So it doesn't come easy for everyone to relinquish,
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  control. It's a process.
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  Stop chasing the emotional highs and the lows because that anxiety will always
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  be there because you're always chasing to try to control things and keep it under control.
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  So your anxiety is going to get the best of you, especially if things don't
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  fall in line the way you're wanting them to or expect them to.
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  And please know, every new day is a new challenge in searching and working towards that peace.
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  Just because I'm no longer in that marriage doesn't mean I am totally 100% at peace.
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  New marriage brought new challenges. It brought new scenarios that disrupted peace.
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  But again, I had to work at it. I had to adjust, and I had to fine-tune my life,
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  my inner me, to take control back, to get that peace.
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  And part of that is talking to yourself, talking yourself off the ledge,
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  if you will, encouraging yourself, speaking to yourself. You do that already.
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  I know you know this. You talk to yourself already. You have inner thoughts.
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  You have inner voices. You have gut reactions.
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  Your gut is telling you, and then you'll say, I should have followed my gut.
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  You're talking to yourself.
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  So why not talk to yourself in such a constructive way?
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  Sometimes when you're making those bad decisions, those impulsive decisions,
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  Yeah, you talked yourself into it.
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  So why not do the same, but in a constructive way to maintain a healthy way
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  of living, a peaceful way of living?
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  Take those voices, those inner thoughts, what you're already doing.
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  Use it in a way that only makes you the better version of you.
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  What a concept.
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  Then the spiritual part of it, the Father gives peace that I cannot create on my own.
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  Now, I'm sure a lot of us are familiar with Philippians 4, 6,
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  and 7, but if you're not, let me read it to you.
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  It says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication
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  with thanksgiving, let your requests be made to God.
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  And the peace of God, this is the one right here that I know speaks to us.
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  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
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  and your minds in Christ Jesus. Because here's the thing.
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  I've been in situations where I know that I should have been falling apart.
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  I know that I should have been in, you know, my mind. I should have been like,
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  oh, my goodness, how can this be?
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  Not sleeping, not eating, because when I get, you know, anxiety or depressed,
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  I don't eat, I don't sleep, all those things.
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  And I should have been in that state.
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  But because of God, because he knew my heart, because I made my request known,
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  and I made my request known with thanksgiving.
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  I made my request known with desire, with I was longing and begging. I was pleading.
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  It wasn't just another casual conversation with God. I was like,
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  now, look, Lord, now, look, I know I come to you every day, all the time.
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  It's me again. I know you're up there going, please. Another one.
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  We just talked just a minute ago. Yep, it's me again.
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  But this time, you know the deal, Lord. You know I'm struggling.
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  And when I've done that, I have found situations where I was able to roll over,
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  go to sleep, and was able to rest in it.
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  Like, yeah, number one, I can't control it. It's going to be what it's going to be.
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  Number two, I'm at peace. Whatever happens, happens.
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  When you get to that point, let me tell you something.
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  You have made it somewhere. You have really done something. That is growth.
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  And it's huge. It is such a reward within itself, and if you're not there today,
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  you can get there, and you will get there.
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  Keep working at it. Keep having those conversations with yourself.
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  Keep praying. Keep making those requests known. I didn't have it years ago.
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  I fought. I cried. I screamed, I cussed, all of that, but with time,
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  with patience, with perseverance.
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  Now that peace, that peace that surpasses all, that peace that sometimes I pause and go, wait, what?
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  Is this me? For real? That's where I am? You will surprise yourself.
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  And even when I look back on that marriage, I sometimes go, how did I make it
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  that long? How did I get through that?
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  How did I not lose my mind?
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  Now, some might say what I described was nothing.
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  You're right. Compared to some, that was nothing.
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  But giving the life that I had lived and what I was used to, that was a big deal to me.
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  That was huge to me. And that was not something I wanted for myself.
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  I don't know what your situation is today. Only you know.
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  And when I say only you know, I'm talking about the quiet parts that you don't speak out loud,
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  that nobody else knows about, those struggles that you don't talk about,
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  that you're battling quietly within you.
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  You will find peace from that as well.
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  Keep fighting. Keep working at it.
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  You too will be able to say that you have a piece that surpasses even your own understanding.
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  It comes with age, it comes with time, but more importantly, it comes with hard work.
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  But just like the title of this ripple, it is a gift.
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  It truly is a gift.
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  And it is my prayer that you will receive this gift today, not tomorrow.
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  So speak to yourself, encourage yourself, talk to yourself.
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  You already do it, so use it in a good way.
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  Let us pray. Almighty Father, thank you for the gift of peace.
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  Through your Holy Spirit, Help me live with open hands and a willing heart.
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  Shape my life through the example of Jesus and grow in me a faith that leads
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  to freedom and victory. Amen.
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  Go in peace. Until next time, bye-bye.