Peace and Tranquility

The peace and tranquility that accompany consolation are not to be understood as the absence of problems and negative emotions.  This is an unrealistic expectation.  The peace of consolation is not peace “as the world gives” (John 14:27), which is merely the state of no conflict.  Rather, the peace of consolation is the state of being at peace specifically about the various agitations and temptations of my life.  This peace isn’t a peace without problems, agitations, and so on.  It isn’t even peace despite problems.  It is a divine peace about those difficult, unresolved issues of my life.

I know that I have problems.  I’m fully aware of the unpleasant and unredeemed aspects of my life.  I may on the surface feel terribly upset, angry, or sad about them.  But I have a sense deeper down that God is working through even these difficult parts of my life.  I have a sense that just as God can transform a reprehensible thing like public execution into a means of salvation.  God can transform any and every reprehensible part of my life, too.  The tranquility of consolation is the assurance not only that God will save me from the problems of my life (self-inflicted or otherwise) but also that God will save me through these problems.  Only an assurance such as this can give me true peace.

– from God’s Voice Within (2010), by Mark Thibodeaux