Perfect Peace

"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27
Unless the heart is kept quiet and peaceable--the life will not be happy. If calm does not reign over that inner lake within the soul which feeds the rivers of our life--the rivers themselves will always be in storm. Our outward acts will always manifest that they were born in tempests--by being tempestuous themselves.
We all desire to lead a peaceful and joyous life; the bright eye and the elastic foot are things which each of us desire; to carry about a contented mind is that to which most people are continually aspiring. Let us remember that the only way to keep our life peaceful and happy--is to keep the heart at rest--for come poverty, come wealth, come honor, come shame, come plenty, or come scarcity--if the heart is quiet, there will be peace and happiness manifested in the life!
But no matter how bright the sun shines outside--if the heart is troubled--the whole life must be troubled too!
"You will keep in perfect peace--all whose thoughts are fixed on You--because he trusts in You!" Isaiah 26:3

- Charles Spurgeon, "Gleanings among the Sheaves"