June 22, 2025

  “It is impossible to escape the impression that people commonly use false standards of measurement — that they seek power, success and wealth for themselves and admire them in others, and that they underestimate what is of true value in life.” 

― Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents

ESTHER 4-6

15Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”(4:15-16)

ACTS 5:17-42

29Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

33When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

40His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

JOURNAL 

For most of my life, I’ve worked toward the idea of peace. A time when things would finally settle, when the pressures would ease, when I could breathe deep and feel like I’d arrived. Whether it was financial stability, professional success, or a particular lifestyle—I imagined peace and joy as something that waited for me after I achieved enough, secured enough, or earned enough.

But what I’m learning is both sobering and liberating: you can spend your whole life chasing a peaceful circumstance and never touch true peace. You can build the life you always imagined, only to find it hollow—because peace is not found in the environment. It’s found internally, and it comes only when you’re walking in alignment with your calling, filled with the strength that comes from God.

Esther didn’t wait for peace before she acted. In Esther 4:15–16, she was surrounded by fear and risk. But in the chaos, she stepped forward with the words, “If I perish, I perish.” That wasn’t despair—it was freedom. It was the kind of surrender that brings deep internal peace, because she knew she was where she was meant to be, doing what she was meant to do.

The same can be said of Peter and the apostles in Acts 5. Threatened, flogged, and persecuted—they didn’t quit or question their mission. Instead, they rejoiced (v. 41) because they knew they were operating from obedience to God, not the approval of people or the pursuit of comfort. The peace and joy they carried weren’t based on external validation—they were rooted in the indwelling presence of the Spirit: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (v. 29)

What Freud calls “false standards of measurement”—wealth, power, applause—are all forms of circumstantial peace. But they can never give what they promise. Only when I offer myself as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1–2), stepping daily into the place where God has called me, can I find the kind of transformation that produces joy and peace from the inside out.

This kind of living doesn’t require a peaceful life to feel at peace. It doesn’t demand success to feel worthy. When I work from my identity in Christ, instead of trying to earn one through achievement, I begin to operate from a wellspring of strength that isn’t mine. That’s where true joy lives—in doing the work I’m called to do with God, not for applause, not for arrival, not even for rest, but because it is holy.

It’s paradoxical: if I work for peace outside of God’s will, I’ll never find it. But if I work in surrender—even in difficulty—I can carry peace with me into any circumstance. That’s the kind of joy I want. That’s the life I want to live. One not after peace, but from it.

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

ROMANS 12:1-2