“And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” – James 3:18, ESV

On a Friday night in the Spring of 2016, I sat on my couch after a long week worth of training for my second Ironman competition. I had decided earlier that winter I was going to chase after this elusive goal one more time and take the year to do it. However, something was missing from my heart that evening – peace.

How I Found My Pathway to Peace

I discovered that evening after doing some needed self-reflection was that the mental edge I needed to pursue another Ironman was gone. With no goal in sight and a lacking peace in my heart, I went searching for what was next. That next morning and beginning almost every morning for the next several months I started to write. I had the passion for quite some time but decided to jump head first into the deep end of the craft and see if it might bring me the peace I was after. Word after word and idea after idea, the delight I had begun searching for began to come into view. God was up to something.

Fast forward to today, and I am in a completely different place in life. I recently left my position at the church I was serving at for over seven years, along with fifteen years in Youth Ministry to pursue starting and growing my own business of writing, speaking and coaching full-time. Lately, I’ve spent some time looking back on this transitional journey over these last two years. It began with me writing on a Saturday morning and ending with me opening my own business. I’ve learned there is one essential element that helped me get to a heart full of courage in leaving comfort behind:

Peace.

As I took each step on this journey, often wondering what was next, peace was the consistent gauge in helping me to understand and process if quitting my job and pursuing this dream was the right direction I should go. As I walked along, had more conversations, sought more wisdom and repeated the process over and over again, I looked for a God-given peace to be present. If there wasn’t, I paused and asked God what my next steps may be.

In the last two weeks of my employment at the church, I had numerous people share with me that I looked at peace with where I was going. I don’t believe that was by accident. It was because I had learned to be intentional in following the brief moments of peace throughout the process and capitalizing on them as God laid out the path in front of me.

Peace Makes Righteousness

If you want to experience a life of consistent peace in your relationships, work or with God, begin by paying attention to the pathway of peace you are creating right now with the decisions in front of you. There’s a good chance this is where God may be leading you. Follow in that path of peace, and you will reap a life of righteousness.

I haven’t cracked the code on peace. However, I can say that through learning to be intentional with my emotions, I was able to follow the path of peace of leaving one season well and beginning another in that same peace.

What small moments in your life recently have you experienced peace that left a smile on your face? Write them down and find a connecting thread to the lasting peace God wants for you to experience.

Are you on the cusp of a new season? What are you doing to make sure your heart and mind are at peace with your transition?