Your Peace Is Retrievable

“The man of God asked, ‘Where did it fall?’ When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float” (2 Kings 6:6).

In this story, a man had lost something (an axe head). It seemed to be lost beyond recovery. However, it wasn’t. God had a plan for restoring it to him.

This reminds me of the way we sometimes lose our peace (which is our cutting edge, spiritually!). One moment we have it. All seems well with the world. The kids are behaving. Meal prep went off without a hitch. The daily activities are unfolding according to schedule. The weekend ahead holds some fun plans you’ve been looking forward to.

Then, boom. Something goes awry. You get a phone call with unpleasant news. Someone in line at the grocery store is in a rotten mood and takes it out on you. A large, unexpected expense you didn’t budget for interjects itself into your week. Someone in the next room starts bickering. You get cut off in traffic. You run out of gas.

And so it goes. Any one of these scenarios, or a combination thereof, can do a quick number on your peace. In a heartbeat, it slipped out of your hands. There it went, seemingly to places beyond retrievability. Gone.

However, it’s not actually gone for good. God has a plan for restoring it to you. Jesus lovingly prepared us for life on a fallen planet with these words: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV).

So yes, troubling things are going to be a part of our existence here. However, the astonishing reality is that we get to have peace anyway. In Him. “In Me you may have peace.” Staying vitally connected to Jesus is the only way to really have peace no matter what is going on.

Do you hear it with your heart? Jesus says you can have peace. All the time. It’s yours. Your possession. He Himself gave it to you. He bought it for you with very own blood.

What happens, then, when we accidentally drop the peace He gave us? Our starting verse for today gives us an important clue. Elisha asked the man where the missing axe head fell. Together, they retraced his steps. Together, they went back to the place where he lost it. A moment later, the grace of God had restored to the man what he had lost.

Holy Spirit asks us the same question about our missing peace. Where did you lose it? Was it during that phone call? Was it in line at the store? Was it in traffic? Wherever it was, Holy Spirit will help you retrace your steps to exactly the place and time where you dropped it. Return with Him there. When you find the place, immediately do the Philippians 4 exchange: “…In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (v. 6, NIV).

Just like the man did to Elisha, express to God your need. Tell Him whatever it was that troubled you. Hand it over to Him, thanking Him for His faithfulness, for the fact that He’s got this. Fully entrust it to Him.

Then the supernatural is going to happen for you too: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7). Just like that, your peace will be back in your possession.

Here’s the conclusion to the story of the restored axe head: “‘Lift it out,’ he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it” (2 Kings 6:7, NIV).

Do that with your peace. Pick it back up, and carry on with your blessed day!

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Do you personally know any extra peaceful people? If so, what are your observations about how they have cultivated their peaceful way of living? Or what can you share from your own experience about cultivating peacefulness?