Are you experiencing an inner uneasiness that’s telling you that all is not well with your soul? Do you find your thoughts fueled by unhealthy emotions like anger, bitterness, or fear? How can you find the lasting peace and rest that Jesus promised? Dr. Henry Brandt shares insights in the articles below to help teach you how to find inner peace.
Dealing with the Irritations of Life
Interacting with friends, coworkers, mates, and children will reveal the inner workings of a person. Being irritable can cause bodily aches and pains, tiredness, nervousness. How can one find peace of mind? The mind can become weighed down by burdens. Granted, the irritants may be small, vague ones. All a person may say is, “I’m anxious, afraid.” Maybe he can’t tell you any particular thing that is bothering him. But he knows something is, and once in a while one particular sore will fester till it breaks open.
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The Source of True Peace
Are you experiencing inner peace in your life? If so, what is the source of your peace?
We often work hard to attain things in this world – money, education, homes, vehicles, and the list goes on. Then once attained, we often ask ourselves, “Is this all there is?
We try to gain peace by losing ourselves in a book, working hard in the yard, exercising, watching a good movie, or even possibly by turning to alcohol or drugs to dull our inner frustration. But these things only lead to a false peace. A peace that doesn’t last.
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Discover Your True Self
To find inner peace you must first discover your true self. Discovery is often a fascinating, satisfying experience – but sometimes oh, so painful! The most effective starting point in discovering yourself is to engage in self-discovery. How do you discover yourself? (read more)
Peace through Repentance
Are you angry or frustrated because of other people’s behavior, trying to act the way you think a “Christian” should act, hiding your true feelings, agonizing on the inside?
Maybe you’re spending hours talking your problem out with a professional or a trusted friend. They listen, and you feel some peace of mind because you have talked things through, but you don’t really experience lasting peace. (read more)
Confront Your Problem
Do you want to be at peace with yourself? Once we accept the fact that wrath or fear or guilt is in us, we can deal with it. And that is the good news for everyone filled with anger and malice and bitterness. The people in your life may never change their ways.
Circumstances may be beyond your control. But fortunately you can do something about yourself. (read more)
Escaping Difficult Situations
“Love, joy, and peace would be ours if only we could get off this island.” These were the words of a couple who found themselves in a frustrating situation.
You may long to be at peace with yourself too. You might identify with this couple’s statement because you’re feeling, “If I could only get out of the situation I’m in, that would do it for me. I could be happy. I could do the Lord’s work. I could love other people.” (read more)
Responsibility for Your Inner Life
To get out of the gloomy pit of despair, bitterness, hostility, jealousy, and the accompanying aches, pains, and misery, and to be at peace with yourself, you must take personal responsibility for your own character, no matter what someone else does–or did. If a person is miserable, it is his or her choice. Our woe is not the result of our background, or the people around us, or our environment, but of a choice, either deliberate or vague, to continue in the direction that we have been heading. (read more)
The Benefit of Acknowledging Sin
Has it been difficult for you to find inner peace? There is a reason why so many people are unhappy, why there is so much conflict between individuals. Isaiah pinpointed the trouble long ago: “We have turned, everyone, to his own way” (Isa. 53:6). (read more)
Examples From Case Histories
Dr. Henry Brandt shares insights from various counseling situations. The names and certain details in these true case histories have been changed to protect each person’s identity and privacy.
Overcoming Resentment
Amy was a widow–the consequence of a motorcycle accident. Her husband was killed instantly. It happened two years earlier, and she continued to grieve over the loss of her husband. He was fun-loving and outgoing. She missed his friendly, cheerful presence. She always looked forward to his coming home. They were best friends. There were no children. She now lives alone in the house they were buying. She works in the church office and loves her job. When the church doors are open, she is always there. But going home is hard and lonely. She struggles to have peace of mind. (read more)
God’s Comfort
I remember getting together with Al and his wife at dinner one Saturday night. The next Saturday night, my wife and I were in a funeral home because Al’s wife was in a coffin. This was one of the first times that anybody truly close to us had died.
Al came running to me, looking distraught and frustrated. He said with such pleading eyes, “Henry, tell me something I need to hear.”
I had the time that it takes to walk from the coffin to a couch to figure out what to tell him. I needed to pray! The question was, did God have something to say to him in this difficult time, using me as His instrument? [Read more…]