Finding True Peace Amidst Life's Chaos
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"There's this tragic story about a man named Tony Hsieh who was a successful entrepreneur in Silicon Valley during the early 2000s. And in 1999, Hsieh actually took over Zappos, which some of you may know. It's an online shoe store. And he grew the company in the first year from one million in revenue to up to one billion in revenue over one year. And it also became a place where people loved to work. It was a spot where employees loved to be there because the culture was so good. And so as the company exploded, Hsieh's popularity also exploded. And in a few short years, what happened is CEOs and business leaders began to fly in from all around the world to come and to meet with Hsieh and to learn from him. And how they could make their employees happy and content and at peace. And so Hsieh actually became well-known in the business world as a guru of happiness and peace." [00:28:24] (53 seconds)
"But the hard part was as he tried to bring peace to others, behind the scenes, Hsieh began to spiral. He fell into really, really deep darkness inside of him. And he fell into destructive behavior, alcohol abuse, drug abuse. And by late 2020, Hsieh was in a spot where things were really bad to the point where people in his family began to check on him regularly. Some, as often as every five minutes, they were checking on him just to make sure he was okay. And then in November of that year, things came to a head. He went to visit his girlfriend in Connecticut at that time. And he actually barricaded himself in her pool house. And when the shed caught fire, he refused to open the door. And Hsieh tragically passed away from smoke inhalation. And it actually breaks my heart when I was reading about this and thinking on this. It breaks my heart just retelling this to you guys because to the outward world, Hsieh was a guru and an expert on peace. And yet he struggled to find his own." [00:29:43] (59 seconds)
"We look for it everywhere we possibly can, but no matter how hard we search for it, it actually remains like an elusive animal. It remains sort of out there away from us where we can see it. And maybe for a moment when things in our life feel like everything is right, we feel like we can maybe capture it. But what happens is as we go to grasp peace and hold it in our feeble fingers, the wild beast slinks into the bramble once again." [00:30:52] (23 seconds)
"And in the process to blow up King James I and all the leaders of Parliament. So over the course of several weeks, Catesby and his band of conspirators, they packed the room with 36 barrels of gunpowder. They hid them under coal. And firewood and other things. And this was the equivalent of half a ton of TNT. It would have been the amount, sort of, that could have completely destroyed the House of Parliament. And so what they did is they packed it all into this room and then they waited for the right moment. They waited for a moment when all of the leaders would be gathered together in Parliament and they could explode the building. And so for weeks, this is crazy, for weeks the workers of Parliament shuffled through the halls of the building with no idea that there was a massive bomb ticking beneath them." [00:35:34] (40 seconds)
"And ultimately, the conspirators, they were brought to justice. Someone actually told on them and the plot was foiled before anything could happen. But I think this gives us a picture of our spiritual life. There are actually two kingdoms right now, as we speak, two opposing forces, spiritual forces in a world that are locked in an unseen spiritual battle that's happening all around us. And you and I are caught in the middle of it." [00:36:47] (23 seconds)
"The first kingdom that the Bible talks about is the kingdom of darkness. This kingdom is a dominion run by Satan and he's called the ruler of this world. That's what the Bible says. And he actually prowls the earth harassing and tempting, and he's calling and influencing humans throughout the earth to rebel against God." [00:36:59] (16 seconds)
"There's a second kingdom that the Bible talks about, and this is called the kingdom of heaven. And this dominion is run by God. And in his kingdom, he actually brings life and love and goodness and peace under his leadership. And so this kingdom of heaven and this kingdom of darkness, they're waging war all around us in the spiritual realm right now. And so you would ask the question, why is it so hard to find peace? The reality is because you and I are living in the middle of that battle." [00:37:57] (24 seconds)
"There's an axiom in leadership. It says that as the leader goes, so go the people. What that means is that whatever the leader does, it will deeply affect the people. And so we see this in sports. You see a coach come into this team that's been floundering for years and they create a new culture and they turn around and they say, turn the team around and they create a space where this team begins to win and have success and prosperity." [00:39:14] (21 seconds)
"See, he's making a plea here. You don't have to sit under and suffer under the leadership of the enemy anymore. Something new has come. The kingdom of heaven is here on earth. And under his leadership, he's bringing peace as the prince of peace. And you ask, how? How can I possibly know this kind of peace? I'm longing for it. I'm starving for it. How can I know it? I want us to see this this morning. If you want to experience peace from God, you first have to experience peace with God." [00:45:07] (28 seconds)
"For some of us, we try to find peace through chasing circumstances. We think, man, if I can just get everything right in my life, if I can just get the right job or have enough money in the bank, or if things are in order at home, or if my kids are doing well, if I can get a man, if I can get a woman, my house is just clean." [00:49:27] (19 seconds)
"You may experience a shadow of peace for a time when you walk these pathways. You may numb the fear, anxiety for a moment, but the relief is fleeting." [00:52:21] (10 seconds)
"And if you want to experience the peace of God, you have to give up control of your life. There is no other way. The way of peace is not holding it together. The way of peace is surrender." [00:55:01] (16 seconds)
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"But the hard part was as he tried to bring peace to others, behind the scenes, Hsieh began to spiral. He fell into really, really deep darkness inside of him. And he fell into destructive behavior, alcohol abuse, drug abuse. And by late 2020, Hsieh was in a spot where things were really bad to the point where people in his family began to check on him regularly. Some, as often as every five minutes, they were checking on him just to make sure he was okay. And then in November of that year, things came to a head. He went to visit his girlfriend in Connecticut at that time. And he actually barricaded himself in her pool house. And when the shed caught fire, he refused to open the door. And Hsieh tragically passed away from smoke inhalation. And it actually breaks my heart when I was reading about this and thinking on this. It breaks my heart just retelling this to you guys because to the outward world, Hsieh was a guru and an expert on peace. And yet he struggled to find his own." [00:29:43] (59 seconds)
"We look for it everywhere we possibly can, but no matter how hard we search for it, it actually remains like an elusive animal. It remains sort of out there away from us where we can see it. And maybe for a moment when things in our life feel like everything is right, we feel like we can maybe capture it. But what happens is as we go to grasp peace and hold it in our feeble fingers, the wild beast slinks into the bramble once again." [00:30:52] (23 seconds)
"And in the process to blow up King James I and all the leaders of Parliament. So over the course of several weeks, Catesby and his band of conspirators, they packed the room with 36 barrels of gunpowder. They hid them under coal. And firewood and other things. And this was the equivalent of half a ton of TNT. It would have been the amount, sort of, that could have completely destroyed the House of Parliament. And so what they did is they packed it all into this room and then they waited for the right moment. They waited for a moment when all of the leaders would be gathered together in Parliament and they could explode the building. And so for weeks, this is crazy, for weeks the workers of Parliament shuffled through the halls of the building with no idea that there was a massive bomb ticking beneath them." [00:35:34] (40 seconds)
"And ultimately, the conspirators, they were brought to justice. Someone actually told on them and the plot was foiled before anything could happen. But I think this gives us a picture of our spiritual life. There are actually two kingdoms right now, as we speak, two opposing forces, spiritual forces in a world that are locked in an unseen spiritual battle that's happening all around us. And you and I are caught in the middle of it." [00:36:47] (23 seconds)
"The first kingdom that the Bible talks about is the kingdom of darkness. This kingdom is a dominion run by Satan and he's called the ruler of this world. That's what the Bible says. And he actually prowls the earth harassing and tempting, and he's calling and influencing humans throughout the earth to rebel against God." [00:36:59] (16 seconds)
"There's a second kingdom that the Bible talks about, and this is called the kingdom of heaven. And this dominion is run by God. And in his kingdom, he actually brings life and love and goodness and peace under his leadership. And so this kingdom of heaven and this kingdom of darkness, they're waging war all around us in the spiritual realm right now. And so you would ask the question, why is it so hard to find peace? The reality is because you and I are living in the middle of that battle." [00:37:57] (24 seconds)
"There's an axiom in leadership. It says that as the leader goes, so go the people. What that means is that whatever the leader does, it will deeply affect the people. And so we see this in sports. You see a coach come into this team that's been floundering for years and they create a new culture and they turn around and they say, turn the team around and they create a space where this team begins to win and have success and prosperity." [00:39:14] (21 seconds)
"See, he's making a plea here. You don't have to sit under and suffer under the leadership of the enemy anymore. Something new has come. The kingdom of heaven is here on earth. And under his leadership, he's bringing peace as the prince of peace. And you ask, how? How can I possibly know this kind of peace? I'm longing for it. I'm starving for it. How can I know it? I want us to see this this morning. If you want to experience peace from God, you first have to experience peace with God." [00:45:07] (28 seconds)
"For some of us, we try to find peace through chasing circumstances. We think, man, if I can just get everything right in my life, if I can just get the right job or have enough money in the bank, or if things are in order at home, or if my kids are doing well, if I can get a man, if I can get a woman, my house is just clean." [00:49:27] (19 seconds)
"You may experience a shadow of peace for a time when you walk these pathways. You may numb the fear, anxiety for a moment, but the relief is fleeting." [00:52:21] (10 seconds)
"And if you want to experience the peace of God, you have to give up control of your life. There is no other way. The way of peace is not holding it together. The way of peace is surrender." [00:55:01] (16 seconds)
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