3 Reasons “Protecting Your Peace” Isn’t Selfish - It’s Biblical

Is protecting your peace selfish, or is it biblical? When daily demands, stress, conflict, and constant noise leave you feeling exhausted, setting healthy boundaries can feel uncomfortable. But the Bible shows that protecting your peace can be a way to care for your spiritual well-being and reconnect with God. In Luke 5:16, Jesus regularly withdrew to quiet places to pray, demonstrating that even amid a demanding ministry, time alone with the Father mattered. Rather than allowing busyness, fear, or other people’s expectations to control your life, you can follow Jesus’ example by making room for prayer, rest, and a heart grounded in God’s presence.

Highlights

• Discover why protecting your peace is biblical and how Jesus modeled solitude and prayer in Luke 5:16.

• Learn how quiet time with God can restore your spirit, refocus your heart, and help you carry life’s burdens.

• Explore how Jesus sleeping during a storm demonstrates trust in God even when circumstances feel frightening.

• Understand how rest can become an opportunity to exercise faith rather than give in to worry.

• See how Jesus’ silence before false accusations reveals the strength of responding with wisdom instead of reacting in anger.

• Identify healthy boundaries that help you communicate clearly and protect your spiritual and emotional well-being.

• Reflect on practical ways to reconnect with God, surrender your fears, and cultivate peace in stressful seasons.

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Join us this Fall for Season One of "Signs of Life," an original podcast from UM News. The journey begins in Atlanta, hearing how a book from an icon of the Civil Rights movement is bringing relationship and understanding to two congregations seeking to bridge divides. Then to Belfast, learning about the Northern Ireland Peace Process and the Methodist connection that was—and is—an essential part of healing and peacemaking. Finally, at the Global Young Peoples Convocation in Dublin, explore the world of translation and interpretation through diversity, language and culture.

UM News Podcast Season One | UMNews.org

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Full Transcript Below:

3 Reasons "Protecting Your Peace" Isn't Selfish, It's Biblical

By: Lia Girard

Bible Reading:

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

– Luke 5:16, NIV 

“Protecting my peace” is a popular saying these days. Possibly because in a world that’s developing at warp speed, peace feels harder to find, and nearly impossible to guard and honor. Sometimes “I’m protecting my peace” is the only way you and I know how to say, “I’m exhausted and can’t think straight,” or even “I need to figure out a sleep schedule.” 

But beyond any scattered desires to turn down noise or declutter, protecting the gift of peace that Jesus provides is far more than simple self-care. It’s a sacred practice that invites you to experience a peace that surpasses understanding. And to help you grasp the importance of protecting this peace, here are three of many reasons Jesus modeled it in the Bible.

1. Jesus chose peace to reconnect with God.

Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” This tiny-but-mighty eight-word bit of scripture proves that even God prioritizes peaceful solitude—so you can, too. Jesus encourages you to remove yourself from crowded, overstimulating, demanding places, to go somewhere alone.

Following Jesus’ example, you can use this alone time to recenter yourself and reconnect your heart to God’s will. When the only sound is your prayer or your breath, you may more easily sense his supernatural presence. Here, you can ask God to refill your empty spirit and tend to your weary soul. Protect this habit of going to a quiet place to pray, because it reminds you that you can rely on God to lift your heavy burdens.

1. Jesus still slept amid the storm.

If you wonder whether getting enough sleep is important for your faith journey, just look to Jesus’ example in the book of Mark. In the middle of a “furious squall” while waves careened over their boat, Mark 4:38-40 says:

Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

I love that Jesus lives out what he teaches. His burning question to disciples who were panicking and wondering if God even cares was, “Do you still have no faith?” I like to believe that this is Jesus’ best living proof of Psalm 4:8, which says, "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." 

When you don’t allow yourself the peace of sleep because you choose to fret, you’re missing out on an opportunity to exercise your faith. 

1. Jesus held onto the truth in silence, instead of being triggered into a fight.

In the book of Matthew, when Jesus is being cruelly and falsely accused in front of Pilate, Jesus chooses not to fight back. Matthew 27:12-14 describes the scene:

When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.

Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”

But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

In a violent and evil event such as this, Jesus knew his accusers had no genuine desire to know the truth. He knew launching into any verbal defense would not change their hearts. Remaining silent is a bold demonstration of something I always like to say to my kids: “The truth is your strength.” 

Jesus demonstrates that he had no ego to defend. So he remains at peace and allows his accusers to expose their maniacal malice. He refuses to get riled up by a trial rigged against him. His silence proves that remaining peaceful is courageous protection of inner resolve. 

So if you ever feel your calm getting tossed around by demands, circumstances, or lies, know that God is offering you a way out. You can choose to protect the peace he gives you.

Intersecting Faith & Life:

As you think about ways you can reconnect with God and reorient your heart toward faith (instead of fear or anger), consider these questions:

• What time of day or evening can I set aside to be alone with God?
• What fear am I holding tightly that I can instead place in God’s hands?
• What healthy boundary can I establish for myself so that I can communicate clearly, rather than simply argue?

Further Reading:

Hebrews 13:5 

John 2:24-25

Romans 12:2

Romans 12:19 

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