Have you heard of the atheist support group that took out of the 12-Steps all references to God and a Higher Power? Of course you haven't. That's because it doesn't work. Hope and healing can only be found in relationship with God.

Serenity, unmistakably, has God's name written all over it. Calm and peace at a soul-level, particularly when we find ourselves in the midst of a storm, cannot be experienced apart from Him.

Jesus once said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27, NIV).

So what kind of peace does the world give? The world offers "peace" in the form of music and medication, prosperity and powder, vacations and vials, recreation and recyclable bottles. In other words, peace that will eventually wear off. God's peace is quite different. The peace our Heavenly Father offers His children will last forever. 

God points out to us in His Word that His peace is so other-worldy that we mortals can't begin to comprehend it. In the book of Philippians we read that the kind of peace we receive from the Heavenly Father transcends all understanding.  

That same text goes on to say that the Heavenly Father's peace will guard our hearts and our minds (Phil. 4:7, NIV). Picture that. The Heavenly Father's peace stands guard over our being, warding off all forces that would threaten our sense of serenity. The Heavenly Father's peace is resistant to attack--whether we are endangered by circumstances out of our control, the words and actions of others, or false messages we give ourselves. The world doesn't give peace like that.

No matter how intense the storms of life, there is no need for our hearts to be troubled. There is no reason to be afraid. Lasting peace is found in relationship with our Heavenly Father. It is the serenity we receive from Him that will enable us to accept what we can't understand. It is the courage that He gives that empowers us to change the things we can. It is the wisdom that our Heavenly Father lovingly gives to His kids that equips us to know the difference.

Have you heard of the atheist support group that took out of the 12-Steps all references to God and a Higher Power? Of course you haven't. That's because it doesn't work. The peace that offers true healing can only be found in relationship with God.

Serenity, unmistakably, has God's name written all over it. Calm and peace at a soul-level, particularly when we find ourselves in the midst of a storm, cannot be experienced apart from Him.

Jesus once said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (Jn. 14:27, NIV).

We are all too familiar with the kind of peace the world gives. The world offers "peace" in the form of prescription bottles and porn, money and meditation, six-packs and sex. In other words, peace that is only temporary. 

The peace God offers us is different. In stark contrast to the peace we find at the corner drug store, God's peace is lasting peace; it won't wear off by the next morning. The peace God provides doesn't just calm our nerves, but our soul.  

In His Word, our Heavenly Father points out that the peace He gives His children is so otherworldy that we mortals can't begin to comprehend it. He refers to the peace He offers as a peace that "transcends all understanding."  

That same text goes on to say that the Heavenly Father's peace "will guard our hearts and our minds" (Phil. 4:7, NIV). No peace this world can offer can make that claim. Worldly peace erodes our hearts and minds. It promises something it can't deliver. It offers the illusion of fulfillment but leaves us feeling more empty.

But God's peace stands guard over our being, warding off all forces that would threaten our sense of serenity. The peace He offers is resistant to attack--whether we are endangered by the words and actions of others, the false messages we give ourselves, or the reality of our own powerlessness. The world does not and cannot give peace like that.

The promise to those who accept God's peace offering is clear: No matter how out-of-control our lives are, there is no need for our hearts to be troubled. There is no reason for our minds to be consumed by fear. God's peace is standing guard.

God's peace offers us the serenity we all desire. It enables us to accept what we can't understand. It empowers us to change the things we can. It equips us to know the difference.

When I was a toddler, my mother taught me a little bedtime prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take. I'm still not sure what it was about the thought of dying in the middle of the night that was supposed to make me want to go to sleep. 

I remember that Mom would then "soothe" me by singing a lullaby about a baby in a cradle wedged in a tree that came crashing down when the wind caused the load-bearing limb to break. Surely, if I was going to die in my sleep that would be how.

And parents wonder why we're in therapy.

Our bodies, minds, even our souls crave times of tranquility. For our own health and well-being--not to mention the well-being of those around us--we need regular periods of calm and quiet. But, for many in today's culture, rest and relaxation are foreign concepts. Times of caring for our bodies, de-cluttering our minds, and quieting our souls are often the first things scratched from our "To Do" lists when we get too busy.

We happen to have a Heavenly Father who wants nothing but the best for His kids. That's why it grieves Him when He sees us weighing ourselves down with unmet needs, unreasonable expectations, and unresolved issues. His desire is that we soar like eagles. But we are often so weighed down by the pressures, fears, and worries of this world that we can't get off the ground.

So our Heavenly Father comes alongside us. He offers to carry our burden for us. His invitation is given in the book of Matthew: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light" (Matt. 11:28, NLT).

When we are worn out from the despair of trying to be all things to all people, God says, come to me. When we are overwhelmed with doubts that we could ever be "successful," God says, come to me. When we are burdened with discouragement from seeking approval from others who will never give it, God says, come to me.

But there's more. When we come to our Heavenly Father through His Son, He invites us then to take from Him. Take my yoke upon you.

A yoke is a carved, wooden beam that connects oxen together to pull a heavy load or cart. Yokes make it possible for oxen to handle a burden they could never carry on their own. Yokes allow animals to share their strength so they can work beyond their capacity.

When we take Jesus’s yoke upon us, we are, in essence, taking on His power. The result is synergistic. By joining with Him, we operate beyond our capacity. He keeps pulling along with us until we get the job done. When we take His yoke on us and follow His lead, we find rest from our burdens.

Being yoked with Jesus also assures us that not only won’t He leave our side, He can’t leave our side! By definition, once we take on His yoke, He takes on ours.

Once we come to Him and take from Him, God, as explained in this text from Matthew, then makes us this offer: let me teach you. Our Heavenly Father wants us to enter into a relationship with Him so that we can see and experience for ourselves the serenity and peace that only He can give.

Nowhere in the Bible does our Heavenly Father say, come to me and I will take your problems away. Despite what many “health and wealth” preachers are promising, God never vows to give His children a problem-free life. His guarantee is quite the opposite. Jesus said, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows." That’s our promise. You won’t see Grandma cross-stitching that verse to hang on the living room wall. But there was more to Jesus's statement. There is a second part to this text, an addendum that provides a divine disclaimer, a comforting conclusion: "But take heart, because I have overcome the world" (John 16:33, NLT).

No matter what trials or sorrows we face on this earth, God’s kids can take heart. We are yoked to One so powerful that He rose victorious over sin and death and hell. Surely He can handle any problems we may face.  

When we find ourselves unable to sleep at night we would be wise to follow our Heavenly Father's advice. Come to Him. Take His yoke. Learn from Him. In His arms we will find rest for our souls.