“When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
Proverbs 16:7
You know, I’ve lived long enough to have had my share of enemies, or at least folks I didn’t see eye to eye with. People who rubbed me wrong, and I rubbed them wrong too. When I was younger, I thought peace meant trying harder to make everyone like me, trying to smooth things over with my own hands. But this verse taught me something different over the years.
It doesn’t say when a man tries hard to please his enemies, then they’ll be at peace with him. No, it says when his ways please the Lord. That took a weight off my shoulders. My job was never to figure out how to win everybody over. My job was simply to walk close to Jesus, to try to do what’s right and kind and honest before Him. To let my ways please Him.
And I’ve seen it happen, time and again. When I’ve just tried to be faithful to the Lord, to keep my heart soft and my hands clean before Him, even hard relationships started to soften. Not always, and not perfectly, but God has a way of calming waters I could never calm myself. He can speak to another person’s heart when I can’t get through at all.
It reminds me that pleasing God brings a kind of peace that spills over onto everything else. My heart gets peaceful first, and then somehow that peace has a way of touching the people around me too.
So folks, don’t you worry too much about those difficult people in your life. Just keep your eyes on Jesus, abd walk in a way that pleases Him in the small things, with a gentle spirit. And trust Him to handle the rest, even the hearts of those who seem against you.
May the Lord give you a quiet heart today, and let His peace rest on you and all your relationships.
Have a blessed day!
Thoughts From Proverbs 16:7
