Chaos. The world is just a chaotic place right now.

Wars. More to come. Upheaval across regions. Political unrest. Protests.

Relationship and family upheaval and chaos. Disruptions to schedules and plans. Grieving what was….

Seems to be the normal environment in 2026. Maybe for a while now?

Influencers and content creators just saying to buy this…start with this vitamin ( and I love my supplements!)…

Do this…Do that…AI Dupes. Deep fakes. How in the world can anyone trust anything online these days?

All of this seems crazy. Chaotic.

At some point, something has to change. Especially if we’re supposed to be set-apart from the world around us and not allow the ‘world’ to influence us more than God’s Kingdom and His Word.

At the point of being cliché, God’s Word never changes. Really! It’s the only antidote to constant chaos and upheaval. But, as I realize with my own life, am I really figuring out what a life of peace looks like? How in the world does this happen? Is it really possible to live a peace-filled life in the middle of constant chaos?

Hearts of War

The Arbinger Institute wrote a terrific and such an insightful book entitled, The Anatomy of Peace.

Listening to this audio book will enrich you and brings you tools that you will easily put to work. The lessons are taught through a story with families from different backgrounds and cultures all are thrown together with troubled teens at the parent orientation for a wilderness rehabilitative type of place.

This is what Audible says about the book:

What if the conflicts in our lives—from personal disagreements to workplace tensions to global divisions—all stem from the same root cause? The Anatomy of Peace shows how our biases and behaviors perpetuate cycles of conflict and, more importantly, how we can break free from these patterns to create lasting peace and meaningful change.
This book unfolds as a story. Yusuf al-Falah, an Arab, and Avi Rozen, a Jew, each lost his father at the hands of the other’s ethnic cousins. The Anatomy of Peace is the story of how they came together, how they help warring parents and children come together, and how we too can find our way out of the personal, professional, and global conflicts that weigh us down, even when war is upon us.

One important thing to point out now….just saying we have peace doesn’t work. Not even close.

In the chaotic times that we live, we must have practical and applicable tools to work with in our daily lives.

In the book, the key idea is taught that we have the choice to view the world around us, the people around us, in two ways:

Heart of War—view people in need of help as inferior or as objects rather than as human beings.
Heart of Peace—listens to the voice of compassion inside all of us and sees people as human beings.

When we insist on living with a heart of war, we perpetuate conflicts with the people and situations around us by refusing to accept another’s perspective.

When we act this way, we justify our behavior by placing ourselves into boxes. (This was a key idea from the other book by the Arbinger Insitute, Leadership and Self-Deception)

**Heart of War?**

**Heart of Peace?**
**When you see someone in need, what is your first thought? Compassion or as an object?**

Now, I know.

I know…

Yep!

I can hear you fussing at me…”I don’t see people as objects!” Okay. Yes. Whatever you say.

But, just hear me out here….you’re reading this because either you are tired of the constant chaos or you are just really needing something to keep you busy for the next 4 minutes.

If you’re still reading, maybe, just maybe you’d like some peace and rest in your life.

Ready? Keep reading.

The human capacity for delusion is unreal. Amazing really!

Anatomy of Peace teaches that we perpetuate conflicts all around us by refusing to accept another’s perspective and in doing so, we justify our own behavior.

When we justify our own behavior, we tend to want to justify why we are RIGHT and why THEY are wrong. We struggle to trust others and their intentions and expect people to do us wrong and wonder why we have a heart of war and not peace.

This is troubling. I understand. I thought the same thing when I read the book.

But still the question, How do we get to peace and rest? That’s why you’re still here, right?

Four Boxes

Better-Than-Box—we look at others at being less than they are. This justifies us to treat others poorly. We believe that we are superior: family, culture, social group, cause, status, religion, money, job, political advancement, etc. The list is much longer.
Victim Box—causes us to see everyone else as privileges and the whole world as bad or unfair. We start thinking that everyone is out to get us and always getting the bad end of every deal.
I-Deserve Box—We feel justified because the world has most likely shortchanged us and we are much more deserving than we get. We feel like we deserve things just because of what we’ve put in. NOTE: This is true in living for God also. We might feel we ‘deserve’ things more because we serve God and they don’t….
Worse-Than-Box—No one has ever had it worse than me! For any story about anything, this person has the story to TOP everything that has been said. We justify by saying that since we’ve had things so much worse, we deserve blah-blah-blah.

When we are dishonest with ourselves, we put ourselves into a box. We build ourselves a box.

This box could be based on so many different things: bitterness, unfair treatment, shame, church hurt, etc. This is how conflict begins. We build a box and somehow that box becomes larger and more tall each moment of our life. In time, we will begin to feel isolated and alone and think no one even cares.

The problem? The box walls are so high that we ourselves cannot even see over and around the top!

We are literally “BOXED in”….

Justifying ourselves and staying in our boxes only perpetuates the justifying of the box.

Are you seeing the vicious cycle of this justifying and box situation?

Stop and think.

Every single conflict in the Bible, in our world, in your personal world, in your work or your family…

ALL conflict started because someone justified themselves and built a box.

Plain and simple.

Self-betrayal is the beginning of being “crooked” and in an endless cycle of justifying every single thing….

IF we are blaming God or any person for our current box or situation, then we are choosing to have feelings of depression, anger, bitterness, anxiety, etc…Yeah, I said that. We are choosing.

Then we make the conflict last longer when we say the situation is unfair, unjust, burdensome, cruel, mean…all the words. No one understands me. I am alone.

You are right. Exactly right. Alone in your box.

This sounds harsh, I realize. omph….

Many times, I must be jolted out of my cozy box to get a truer understanding of why I am in the mess I am currently….

When we betray ourselves by viewing another person as an object instead of a human being that God created just LIKE myself, the whole world changes.

My heart is now war. Officially, I am a heart of war.

We have chosen a different way to be in this world. A need to justification for everything.

Hearts of Peace

As humans, we don’t really comprehend the peace that comes from God. In order to have peace and rest, we must find it within ourselves and within our spirits.

If we recognize we have been in the box, we must begin the work to escape the box.

We must recognize the signs of the box: blame, justification, victimization, etc. etc. In order to recover or rediscover our peace, we must find a way back to the way we felt before we found ourselves IN the box.

Is this making any sense? I realize this is a LONG post…but we are almost there….wherever “there” is…

The Anatomy of Peace says to return to something that you experienced before the box entombed you. Discover that place where you once had peace, no matter the situation around you. Might’ve been a childhood place, a vacation place, or a place in prayer. Find that place in your mind. Your spirit.

Peace of God

The peace of God is not a human construct. It is not something to be conjured up on our own. The peace of God is supernatural. Perfect peace is found within those who follow the commandments of God.

Peace is the absence of striving within myself and against others. Peace from God comes from an acceptance of the love of God. Even in the middle of chaos, peace from God is possible. Even in the midst of trials, calmness and peace from God is possible.

Chaos doesn’t equal striving. Trying. Working up something magical. Watching a Hallmark movie. Trying to earn the love of God through acts of service.

Psalm 23 instructs us to lie down in green pastures. We must simply force our human spirits ‘down’ to give rise to the peace from God. If we are in chaos, in the box, there will be NO peace within us.

Peace is the knowing that God is in my midst—in the midst of the chaos all around me—but the knowing the I am not chaotic.

God is our peace. The very essence of God is the Prince of Peace. A secure place. A resting of the mind.

How could we help you right now? Feel free to reach out and let us know how we might pray for you and your situation. Email us at kingdomadvanceok@gmail.com

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Join us on the journey as we work to advance the kingdom for Christ. We just want to make a difference.

Peace is possible

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Peace is possible 〰️

Thank you for your time. We are honored to share this space with you here. We aren’t counselors or therapists. Just a fellow human on the journey to discover our best selves in Christ.

May the Lord bless you with His peace in this season! We bless you in the name of the Lord!

Constant Chaos: Navigating to Peace and Rest