Is Inner Peace Confirmation?

January 30, 2009 in Articles

A lot of people believe that inner peace is confirmation from God about a particular decision they need to make. In other words, when tormented with a decision for which they are asking God to guide or speak to them, inner peace is typically understood as God giving confirmation. I used to believe this was the case until I was doing some research for my thesis when I was in seminary.

It was then that I discovered that the passages that people use to support the idea that God gives peace in decision-making situations do not really speak to this idea.

I know this is going to be a tough pill for some to swallow. It was for me. But I need to ask you to bear with me. Hang with me for a few minutes and I will do my best to explain to you why I believe this idea is not taught in the Bible, at least in the passages people normally use to support this idea.

If you are still reading, I want you to understand that I am not trying to be a pompous know-it-all jerk-butt-a-hole. I am trying to approach this subject as delicately as possible because I know this breaches an area where many of us have some very deep seated attachments. So I hope you will hear me out. And I hope you will forgive me if at some point I come across as the final authority on this subject because that is not my intent.

Also, you may come to the end of this article and say, “But I still feel that God gives inner peace as confirmation of my decisions.” My question to you would be what are you basing this on? What Scriptural evidence can you provide? It is quite possible that if you feel this way, you are basing your view on your feelings. When you do this, in essence you are elevating your feelings above Scripture. So please, let’s not do that.

The Truth About Inner Impressions
Inner impressions are feelings. There are two things that are important to bear in mind about feelings/emotions. The first is that our emotions can be greatly influenced by health, upbringing, fatigue, medication, weather, diet, hormonal imbalance, world events, and anything that influences our perception of reality. Our emotions can also be heavily influenced by the Enemy.

The second thing we need to keep in mind about emotions is that they can function as initiators or responders. As initiators our feelings determine reality for us. Our inward impulses are only as reliable as our emotional state. Emotions can also function as responders. In this way our feelings are designed to express our response to objective reality. One of the problems with subjectivity is that when inward impressions alone govern our lives our experiences are only as reliable as our emotions. I know that was a little heady but here’s the point: While impressions are real, they are often misinterpreted as “the still small voice” of God when in reality they are the emotional “voice” of the person himself or worse perhaps, the Enemy.

Gary Friesen, who wrote Decision-making and the Will of God, said “people interpret the peace of God to be his stamp of approval or red flag of warning (pp. 140-41). Phrases like, “I know God wants me to do this, because I have peace about it” are the kind of phrases that convey this idea. Peace becomes the assurance that an impression is from God. The problem with this is that it is not the way the Bible uses the word peace. This idea is based primarily on Col 3:15 which says, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . .” In Philippians 4:7 we see a similar statement. So let’s take a quick look at both of these passages since they are the only two places where these statements occur. 

Philippians 4:7
In Phil 4:7, peace has to do with the absence of anxiety or despair. Paul encouraged the Philippians to pray about the conflict within their community (Phil 2:1-4; 4:2). This conflict was causing anxiety among various members. Paul instructs them to cast off their anxiety through prayer (Phil 4:6) and they will receive peace from God. This peace will guard their hearts and minds as they live righteously (Phil 4:8).

Peace comes because God can be trusted, and prayer is an expression of trust. This passage is similar to the passage in Col 3:12-17 in that there is conflict within the community. But the striking difference in these passages has to do with how Paul talks about peace. Paul does not express peace as something he commands them to do (as in Col 3:12) but as something that is the response of a practice, closely related to trusting God in prayer.

In other words, the peace that will “guard their hearts” is the same peace in Col 3:15 which would rule their hearts as they live out the character of Christ in their lives (Philippians 4:4,5,8).

Conclusion
In both contexts, peace appears in relation to community unrest. Therefore, it seems to me (and I hope to you too) that Paul is not teaching believers that peace is confirmation that their impressions are from God.

Does a lack of peace normally indicate the guidance of the Spirit? Friesen argues that there are several potential disturbers of peace: conscience, insomnia, illness, concern for a loved one, occupational stress, an approaching deadline, nagging uncertainties, timidity, and a new experience. Sometimes people experience a lack of peace because of immaturity. Inner anxiety of the heart can be accounted for in a variety of ways and there does not appear to be any criteria in Scripture by which we can distinguish the negative leading of the Spirit from other disquieting influences. The presence or absence of peace in the life of a believer should not be construed as a sign of God’s leading in matters to which Scripture does not speak.

The reality is that life with God is both complicated and difficult. So having peace in a decision is not always going to happen. Consider the example that I previously wrote about of God telling Abraham to pack up his stuff and leave his country and extended family. God told Abraham to leave without actually telling him where he wanted him to go (Genesis 12:1). Without knowing where he was going he packed up his belongings and left (Genesis 12:4). It was not until he stopped at a rest stop in Canaan that God told him that the land he was standing on was where God wanted him to end up (Genesis 12:7).

Imagine yourself in that same situation. If God told you to go somewhere without actually telling you where you were going would you have peace about it? Maybe you would. I know I wouldn’t. There would be all sorts of questions running through my head. “How am I going to explain this to my friends and family?” “Where do I even begin?”  “What time as I supposed to leave?” “Do have to take my kids with me?”

Abraham’s inner peace was irrelevant to God. What was most important to God was Abraham’s obedience. Remember, Abraham is not God. He is not omniscient (all-knowing). God did not expect him to be. And God does not expect you or me to be as well. My point is that, you do not have to know everything in order to make your decisions but keep in mind that God has given you everything you need to make wise and godly decisions (2 Peter 1:3).