"Contrariness is cause of our tribulations and all our woe, and our Lord Jesus taketh them and sendeth them up to Heaven, and there are they made more sweet and delectable than heart may think or tongue may tell. And when we come thither we shall find them ready, all turned into very fair and endless worships. Thus is God our steadfast Ground: and He shall be our full bliss and make us unchangeable, as He is, when we are there."
Julian of Noriwch (Ch. 49)
Right now we are changeable in our thoughts and behaviors. When we see God's love for us, we find it easier to relax and love ourselves and others, and we find ourselves to be more at peace within, which is in alignment with God's own nature of love and peace. But other times we may lose sight of God's love for us or suffer tribulation so that we may temporarily see only through our physical senses, and we may find ourselves in turmoil, frustration, tension, struggle and even anger within. Yet we are still aligned with God's peace and love within, even if we can't always see or feel it. And all those feelings and even behaviors that come from frustration, anger or unpeace have already been taken by Christ, who absorbed all our pain, sin, suffering and wrath on the cross, and brought up to heaven transformed into righteousness and purity! So every negative emotion or even sinful thought or behavior we may go through here on earth has already been taken away by Christ and turned into righteousness, peace and beauty. On the cross He became our sin and we became His righteousness. That is an eternal event that is applicable for all time. All the struggle, anger and strife within us has already been pacified and transformed into love and peace by Christ through His finished work.
So how do we handle those irritated or tense feelings? Maybe we can treat them the same way God does, for He always extends love and peace, and Christ in His love and peace embraced us at our worst moment and melted away all the angst of the world, making us all clean and pure and alright. So we can extend grace to ourselves, just as Christ always does. We can love ourselves in our dark moments, knowing that's not the deepest thing about us, but that the deepest thing about us is the peace of God. We can know that in Christ we have actually already won over any negative thought with the truth of His peace, knowing that all that anger and hurt has been healed in heaven and we will see it manifest visibly, either here on earth or when we arrive in heaven. But either way, we have been made unchangeably good, calm, peaceful, victorious and sweet by Christ, and that's heaven's reality right now!
"When I was upset and beside myself, you calmed me down and cheered me up."
Psalm 94:19 (MSG)
A Prayer: Your peace is already reigning over my restless mind.