Are you in the wrong “neighborhood?”

TODAY’S PROVERB: Better is dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. Proverbs 17:1

I used to live in “Strife-ville.” I’m not sure when I moved there. One day I happened to notice I was surrounded by strife. And in an odd dysfunctional way, it was comforting. So I kept myself ensconced in Strife-ville. I had to surround myself with unrest and at times, I actually manufactured it. It was with me at work. Home. Driving in the car. It was as pervasive as a thick fog. Yikes.

Interestingly enough, Strife-ville had a large population. We citizens kept the city pretty busy. The more people who “moved” there, the more strife circulated.

Strife in this world is expected, but our Heavenly Father offers us peace. Most of Paul’s epistles began with the words grace and peace. Our home should be a fortress of peace. That’s not always possible these days. Still, it is said that home is where the heart is. Then it stands to reason that we can have peace in our heart. Besides, God says that we can.

“Do not be anxious about anything—but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the shalom of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua.” Philippians 4:6-7

At some point, during a very difficult time in my life, I experienced the peace and quiet of a strife-less home. As the echos of strife faded away, the quiet came. Initially, it was strange and uncomfortable. In the quiet, the long unsettled battles of my life surfaced. In that intentional quiet, God and I dealt with many of those battles. One by one.

Today, I crave the quiet. I moved from Strife-ville to the quiet neighborhood of peace. I work to keep our home strife-free — a safe place where we can just be. A place of renewal so that we can go back into the world rested and ready to serve. And that’s a good thing.

May we move away from Strife-ville and into the quiet neighborhood of peace, my friends.

Proverbs 17:1 Tree of Life Bible Society, Tree of Life Version – TLV, #tlvbible, #tlvproverbs