Finding Peace in a Broken World: It's Your Choice

Have you ever had a pest problem that seemed cute at first, then turned into a nightmare? I learned this lesson the hard way when I discovered what I call "the most deceptive pest of all" – a field mouse. It looked adorable running through my garage, until one frosty morning when "I went to take a drink of it, and I went to drink it, and there was a mouse in there, drowned." That's right – in my water bottle. The exact cup I brought to church as a sermon illustration, complete with "the little remains of the mouse in there." But here's what I learned from my mouse problem: "ignoring it's not gonna make the pest go away." Whether we're talking about actual rodents or the problems in our broken world, hoping things will magically improve doesn't work. "Until that mouse was gone, like, there was not gonna be any peace in the house, right? So there needed to be an action taken."

The Reality We All Face

"How many of us know we live in a broken world?" It's evident every day, from termites and raccoons to the deeper issues that rob us of peace. "We have pests, we have things. We have things that are hard in our life in this broken world. And if we're gonna find peace, we can't just say, oh, it's broken. That stinks, and then move on." The good news? Every believer can find peace in a broken world by making three right choices. "It's not enough for us to simply sit back and hope for things to change. If you keep doing the same thing, you're going to get the same results, and you're going to allow those pests to run free. But we need to make the right decisions."

Choice #1: Choose the Right Content

Paul gives us a clear filter in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things."

The Power of What We Consume

"Content matters. What we consume and what we watch, what we ingest, what we digest, it matters." A University of Tennessee study proved this by tracking two groups for 12 years – one watching normal news, another watching only negative news. "The negative people ended up being more depressed, more pessimistic, more afraid, less trustworthy of other people." Paul assumes "that there are right things to think on, there are good things in this world." We need to test our content with these practical questions: Is it TRUE? "Satan is active and he's the father of lies." We often believe assumptions like "bad things always happen to me" or false premises like "if I can get this one thing, then everything else will fall into place." Is it HONEST? "Is this thing I'm doing honoring or dishonoring God? Like, make it matter?" Is it JUST? "Is this morally right or wrong? Am I being real in public and doing the right thing, but I do the wrong thing in private?" Is it PURE? "Will this thing cleanse me or dirty my soul? There are things in my life I have watched and I have consumed that I'm like, oh, I feel gross after." Is it LOVELY? "Will this renew or harden my heart? Am I a better person or worse person after engaging in this?" Is it of GOOD REPORT? "Can I recommend this to someone who looks up to me? If Jesus himself was sitting next to you, would you be okay with it?"

The Filter Illustration

Think of your life like a colander with a bucket underneath. "In our life we have the world. And I can't control the faucet, I can't control the picture. But what I can do is I can get a filter in my life. So when these bad things come into my life, I have a filter that stops them." "So many people live their life and they're really annoyed about all the wickedness, and they never put a filter, and they just allow it to come right into their soul. They do nothing about it. And then they get mad at the world."

Choice #2: Choose the Right Thoughts

"Think on these things," Paul commands in Philippians 4:8. The Greek word for "think" means "to keep a mental record of." "You gotta actually put in some effort. You gotta think."

Why Your Thoughts Matter

"What we allow into our mind is the most important decision we make each day." Here's the process: "Your thoughts lead to how your thinking leads to your emotions, and your emotions then lead to behavior." "If I think negative thoughts, it's going to lead to fearful emotions. So I'm thinking negatively... That leads me to be fearful, and that leads me to have ungodly behavior, and that leads me to devastating consequences."

The Bible: Your Thought-Life Helper

When we compare Paul's list in Philippians 4:8 with Psalm 19:7-9, we see that "all those attributes that have just been listed in Paul, I can see those in the word of God." The psalmist writes: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple... The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." "What I have noticed in my life is when my thoughts are failing, it's also because often, because I wasn't in Scripture, so often I start having wrong thoughts because I never thought about God once in my day."

Choice #3: Choose the Right Example and Practices

Paul writes in Philippians 4:9: "Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you."

Following Godly Examples

Paul wasn't being prideful – he was saying, "I'm doing exactly what I've asked of you. And Paul's saying, it works." We need "people in my life that I've seen that lived it out. And they say, miles... this works. Look at my life. Not because they're prideful, but because they're saying, no, this changes everything."

Putting It Into Practice

The word "do" means "practice" – "be busy with." "I need to stop being passive. I'm sometimes so afraid of being legalistic... that I remove all personal responsibility of doing anything."

Putting It Into Practice: Three Action Steps

1. Test Your Content

"Take that content and put it through this litmus test." Examine "what shows up on your phone, you know, your text, your browsing history, the feed on your social media... your streaming, your playlist, your reading, your relationships."

2. Think on Truth

"Your thought life determines your future." Carry Scripture with you. "If I always feel like, man, I'm never gonna get better. Life is hopeless. I'm gonna [remember] Romans 8:28. God worketh all things together for good."

3. Trust Godly Examples

"It's really hard to do the Christian life by yourself. And you were never designed to do it by yourself. Who is in your life that you can follow the lead of?"

The Promise of Peace

Here's God's incredible promise from Philippians 4:9: "And the God of peace shall be with you." But remember, "peace is available, but you have to actually take this peace. He's with you. But are you going to actually grab and hold on to this peace?" "If I want peace, I need to put in some effort. And not that it's relying on my works... But what he's saying is, Myles, you need to be intentional to hold on to this peace." Peace isn't passive – it's active. "Even in the brokenness of the world, when sin is rampant, when sin is like knocking at our door, I can choose peace because the God of peace is with me always." The choice is yours. What will you choose today?