Latest / Grounded Growth / Peace in the Middle of the Noise
Transcript
- Stephanie Petry: Hi, welcome to. Nicole Ghirardi: Hi, welcome to Grounded Growth Podcast. I'm Nicole Girardi. And I'm Stephanie Petrie. We believe that grounded growth comes from being intentional about compassionate connections that are beautifully balanced while flourishing in faithfulness. Each week we will share real conversations, encouragement, and simple systems to help build a life that feels steady, aligned, and grounded. So sit back, maybe grab a coffee, and join us where clarity meets calm and growth feels intentional. Stephanie Petry: And I'm Stephanie Petrie. We believe that grounded growth comes from being intentional about compassionate connections that are beautifully balanced while flourishing in faithfulness. Each week we will share real conversations, encouragement, and simple systems to help build a life that feels steady, aligned, and grounded. So sit back, maybe grab a coffee, and join us where clarity meets calm and growth feels intentional. Before we dive in, if you want to make sure you never miss a conversation, hit that subscribe or follow button. Nicole Ghirardi: Before we dive in, if you want to make sure you never miss a conversation, hit that subscribe or follow button Stephanie Petry: right now on whatever app you're listening on. Nicole Ghirardi: right now on whatever app you're listening on. Welcome back. I am Stephanie Petrie. I'm Nicole Girardi. We are continuing our fruit that last series and we are having a blast with it. we started by talking about love and then joy. And today we're gonna talk about something I think every woman is longing for, and that is peace. we live in a world that is constantly noisy. and there are deadlines and parenting and marriage and work and ministry, finances, social media, lots of things, health concerns. This is an endless list, and endless decisions, really. the world tells us that peace comes when life finally calms down. But if you've lived very long, you know that life rarely gets quiet. the beautiful truth of scripture. Is that peace is not found in a perfect circumstance. It is found in the presence of a perfect savior. And God is the source of everything good. He is love. He is the source of joy. And he is the one who provides peace that surpasses all understanding. My personal favorite. Through Jesus, God didn't just leave us instructions, he gave us his Holy Spirit and our helper. to continually point us back to Christ and to empower us to imitate him. One of the greatest lessons that God has been teaching me personally is surrender. I've had to surrender my pride and my sense of control, my fear of unknown, and even my expectations of how I thought life should unfold. And every time doubt creeps in, I come back to God's word. And every time I lay my worries at Jesus' feet. And there is this overwhelming peace that just settles deep in my soul. And it doesn't always change my circumstance, but it does change me. and peace isn't simply a posture we learn, it is found in a person of Jesus Christ. So if peace isn't the absence of problems, then what exactly does biblical peace look like, Steph? So biblical peace, and this is one that that I I get so excited about because it is the book of Philippians that the Lord called me to faith. And peace was the biggest one for me, and surrendering to peace. So biblical peace isn't pretending everything is okay. It is trusting that God is still sovereign when life isn't. Peace is much deeper than calm emotions. It's confidence that the Lord is reigning even when we can't see what He's doing. And Jesus doesn't promise a life without hardship. He promises his presence in the middle of it. So peace can exist in uncertainty and in suffering and in exhaustion and unmet expectations. It's not easy though. You have to surrender and it takes humility and is the hard work. It's like, It's really like carving it out. Like you really have to carve out the guts of the pup pumpkin, right? Like you have that's what I think of. You gotta get rid of all that gunk and all of that stuff that you think is is you doing your life. and you have to just be who God is creating you to be and just rest in and who he calls you to be. and rest in what he's calling you to do, which is often a way less than what we are expecting ourselves to do. The world often offers temporary relief, whereas Jesus offers lasting rest. And peace is rooted in God's unchanging character, not our constantly changing circumstances. And I used to think peace meant everything around me was just calm and quiet. And it took me a long while to realize that is not peace, that is just a good day. And good days do not come often in in in seasons. So the real difference is that peace is not the absence of the noise. It is having somewhere steady to stand while the noise is still happening. I think of Jesus asleep in the boat during the storm in Mark chapter four, while the disciples were panicking and bailing water. The storm was real, but so was his rest. because his peace was never dependent on that weather. Have not had a truly quiet week in years. so I'm grateful the peace he offers does not require one. If that's true, then why do so many of us struggle to experience that peace on a daily basis? So why is peace so hard to hold on to? most days my peace does not disappear because of one big thing. it gets chipped away. Buy 50 small things before nine o'clock in the morning for me. I grab my phone, like it is going to fix the restlessness. and it never does. I mean, clearly these things are great, except for when we truly need like to find God's word, because the phone is the biggest distraction, I feel like, with me. and it just adds 50 more open tabs in my brain of everything else going on. So if I'm honest, I can fuse peace with. Everything going according to my plan. the two are not the same, even though they feel like they should be. because it's not my plan, it's God's plan. it's a lot of like Martha again. we talked about Martha in a couple episodes, anxious and troubled about many things, while Jesus gently reminded her that only one thing was truly needed. my anxiety usually means I have taken my eyes off of him and put them onto my to-do list instead. Mm-hmm. And and when Paul talks about do not be anxious about anything and he talks about anxiety, we're not talking about the chemical imbalance of anxiety. we are talking about the anxiety that is produced when you start controlling your circumstance. and you are basically trying to play God. I that's that's what we're talking about, your anxious thoughts. so often anxiety grows because we're trying to carry responsibilities that belong to God. we try to control outcomes, predict tomorrow, protect everyone we love and make sure nothing goes wrong. And it's not that these things are bad. You just don't always have the control to do those things. and underneath so much of our restlessness is a quiet belief that everything depends on us. And we can see where that slippery slope lies. Ruth Chow Simons writes in Now and Not Yet that restlessness often begins with forgetfulness. We forget where true rest really comes from. And we start doing the whole spiraling of, well, I had this planned this way, and you know, we're gonna do this on this night so that we have it ready for whatever. And and it's okay to prepare, but you need to hold it loosely too. we look for peace in finishing a checklist, reaching a goal, or even finally getting life under control. But those things were never designed to carry the weight of our souls. The more tightly we grip control, the less peace we experience. And when we continue living from that place, we begin to notice the effects and not only in our minds, but in our relationships and our faith. So it looks like when we lose our peace, it looks like we begin reacting instead of responding. we become impatient because our minds are constantly racing ahead of what's next, that we carry burdens that Christ already invited us to lay down. That right there is it just gives me peace. we become emotionally restless, always believing happiness is somewhere in the next accomplishment, the next season, or even the next unanswered prayer. however, our relationships often suffer because anxious hearts struggle to extend patience, gentleness, and grace. Romans 12, Romans, one of my favorite books of the Bible. Romans 12 reminds us that peacemakers don't seek revenge or repay evil with evil. Peace with others flows from first being at peace with God. I'm gonna talk about peacemakers for a second. I was reading something about Being a peacekeeper versus a peacemaker. And I thought this was beautiful. Being a peacekeeper, keeping the peace is very much nonactive. you are just kind of people pleasing at that point. You are keeping the peace, you're trying to keep the calm, you're trying to keep people from being Keep them from being offended. you're trying to keep people from being offended and you're just wanting to keep status quo almost. Whereas a maker, you make something, a peacemaker that we're called to be, you have to make the peace. And sometimes that's very active. And it's active in disputing a lie you're hearing, or it it it comes with. speaking up with truth when you're being surrounded by lies. Sometimes it means you are actively walking away from a situation. And not in bitterness. And peacemakers make sure that they are speaking truth. And so it's very active. And I just loved that visual of instead of being a peacekeeper, we need to be peacemakers as believers. the more unsettled our hearts become, the harder it is to become people who bring God's peace into dark places. And when I lose my peace, go figure, I get short with the people I love the most. usually over the things that have nothing to do with them. I start living a few steps ahead of myself, bracing for problems that have not ever even happened yet. I carry things I was never meant to carry, forgetting that Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. And that's Matthew chapter 11. So it shows up as that low hum of worry that follows me around. And the same worry Jesus was talking about when he asked why we fret over tomorrow when today already has enough on its own. And that's Matthew chapter six. my gosh. That is like so. Good. And it is one of the biggest lessons I've learned from my husband actually is when you talked about like the potential problems. And I mean, there's been many times where I've tried to do that and he just reminds me, like, we'll deal with it if it comes. Right. I mean, that's when you that's when you buckle down and, you know, you you deal with the problem. So anyway, that it's a great lesson to learn. Hard to practice, but a great one to to to have. thankfully, Jesus doesn't simply tell us to find peace. He gives us himself. So in John 14, 27, he says, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. What does the Jesus show us about this peace? So the picture I keep coming back to is Jesus in the boat in Mark 4. he stood up and spoke three words to the storm, peace be still. And the wind and waves obeyed him. he was not peaceful because there was no storm. He was peaceful because he knew who was in the boat with him. And before he went to the cross, he told his friends, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. And he was handing them something the world could not give and could not take away. And that gives me the same peace is available to me, not a promise that the storm will disappear, but the presence of one who can speak to it. Jesus makes an incredible distinction here. The world offers temporary peace that depends on favorable circumstances, which is why we are a culture of striving and self promotion and control and identity. identity and anything that is pride. Jesus gives his peace a peace that remains because he remains. He is the Prince of Peace. Just before this, Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, our helper, who would remind believers of everything he had taught them. We were never left alone to manufacture peace. The Holy Spirit continually points us back to Christ. And reminding us of his promises when fear tries to speak louder. The peace Jesus gives isn't fragile, it's anchored in his finished work on the cross and his continual presence within us. So if peace is a gift from Christ and the Spirit continuingly points us back to him, how do we practically cultivate that peace every day? What's your tips and tricks? good question. All right. Bring every worry to God. Before carrying it yourself. Philippians 4 tells us exactly what to do. Pray, present every request, give thanks, then God's peace guards our hearts and our minds. practice surrender daily. Peace grows every time we surrender. when we surrender our pride, our control, our fear, or our expectations. And sometimes I wonder if like surrender is is something that people don't understand. It doesn't have to be this huge thing. surrender is is in your heart. so you often what it looks like for me practically is I have to first identify what the problem is. And usually it's me. and I I pray to God and and I release it in prayer. and and I am not trying to be supernatural or anything here, but it really is a piece that surpasses your understanding. It is this calmness inside and this assurance that happens to where you're allowed to step forward now in faith rather than in control. surrender is not weakness, it is faith, practicing faith. fill your mind with scripture. Psalm 119, 165 reminds us, great peace have those who love your law and nothing can make them stumble. It's not saying we won't stumble, but it's saying when we are guarding our heart with us with scripture, with the word of God, it is going to help us from stumbling. and when in doubt comes, answer it with the truth instead of fear. I've said it before, but I have a notes app on my phone. that i have some some scriptures that really help bring me back to humility and to seeking the lord so that i can read those they're just easy to grab and and it's it's good for my soul remember that peace is practiced practicing peace trust isn't perfected overnight it grows every time we choose obedience over panic Hebrews 12.11 reminds us that God's loving discipline eventually produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness and live as a bringer of peace, that peacemaker. Sally Clarkson, an author that I adore, beautifully wrote, Lord, I will choose to find light in the darkness, plant a flag of faith, bring joy into this place, create beauty in this wilderness, and exercise generous love. That is the calling of every believer. We aren't simply called to experience peace. We are called to carry Christ's peace into every room we enter. And adding on to that, pray it forward before you carry it. So bring every worry to God first instead of turning it over into your mind. You know, going back to Philippians 4 promises his peace guards our hearts when we pray with thanksgiving. Pause before you react. Few slow breaths and a quick prayer can keep panic from setting the tone. Peace often lives in the space between what happens and how we respond. Another good one is ponder what is true. Fill your mind with scripture so truth speaks louder than the fear. When doubt gets loud, answer it loud with God's promises. and last but not least is practice surrender daily. Peace grows every time we hand him our control, our fear, and our expectations. Surrender is not a weakness. It is the trust in the one already holding tomorrow. Absolutely. And something that popped in my head while you were talking was when we are coming to the Lord in prayer for our day I noticed I was growing in my faith that my prayers. quit being a checklist of God, please do XYZ or allow XYZ to happen well. I will still pray that in my supplication part of my prayer. However, my prayer shifted quite a bit of Lord, help me to be obedient to your will for me today. help me to surrender to your will and to your plans for me today instead of what I have planned for me today. Help align my thoughts. Help me to align my responses to how your desires work, Lord. it really shifts what your agenda is for the day and just stepping and walking in faith. the beautiful thing about biblical peace. Is that it doesn't wait until life settles down. It quietly grows every time we choose to trust the one who is already holding tomorrow. And wrapping up our podcast about peace, if you take nothing else from today, take this. Peace is not something you achieve by finally getting everything under control. It is something you receive from Christ as you lean on him. Wherever you are, even in the middle of the noise. His peace is available to you in this exact moment. You do not have to have it all figured out. You have to be able to bring your restless heart to the one who calmed the sea and let him steady you. And when the worry creeps back in, and it will, I know it does for both of us, you do not have to start over. You just have to turn back to the Prince of Peace who has not left the boat with you. Amen. this week, pay attention to what steals your peace most quickly. we have to identify what those are and and why before we can start surrendering and changing. so instead of immediately trying to solve the problem, just pause and ask, Lord, what are you inviting me to surrender? and then pray a simple little prayer. Lord, help me fix my eyes on you instead of my circumstance. remember that peace isn't something we earn. It isn't something that we achieve by finally getting everything under control. It is something that we receive from Christ as we abide in Him. My encouragement for you is to just keep processing, praying, asking questions and talking with trusted believers until your heart comes into alignment with God's word. As Gospel Mom reminds us, this is from a ministry called Risen Motherhood. They still have a podcast up, but their ministry is on pause because they chose to take a break because of their families. And Gospel Mom is a book that they wrote together. It reminds us that peace grows as we continue bringing our lives before the Lord and applying his truth. The more we know the Prince of Peace, the more his peace becomes evident in our lives. So may we become women who bring his light into dark places, steward our lives wisely and leave a legacy marked not by striving, but by the quiet confidence that Jesus is enough. next week we'll continue our fruit that last series as we talk about patience, waiting well in a world that wants everything now. Because God's delays are never wasted. They are often where He does his deepest work in us. So we'll see you next week. Bye friends. Bye. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Grounded Growth. We hope today brought you clarity, encouragement, and a gentle reminder that you're not walking this journey alone. If this episode spoke to you, we'd love for you to share it, subscribe, and leave a review. We'll see you next week. Until then, Stephanie Petry: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Grounded Growth. We hope today brought you clarity, encouragement, and a gentle reminder that you're not walking this journey alone. If this episode spoke to you, we'd love for you to share it, subscribe, and leave a review. We'll see you next week. Until then, stay grounded and keep growing. Nicole Ghirardi: stay grounded and keep growing.