This article was written by a friend of Elisha’s Riddle, Canaan Baca.

In America it seems as though truth and peace are the two intangible things that we seek after the most. We are quickly realizing that the physical things alone won’t satisfy, and that there is more to this pursuit of happiness than the white picket fence. The life motto of “just do whatever makes you happy” doesn’t seem to work. And yet we continue to confuse “truth”, and are left absolutely dissatisfied.

According to the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in the United States, surpassing even depression. 10 percent of teenagers and 40 percent of adults suffer from an anxiety disorder of some kind. In the most affluent, liberal country in the world we need medication to keep our unrest at bay. In California and a few other states, we can buy synthetic, momentary peace at dispensaries without question. We are supposedly hungry for the real, calling out others when they are “fake”, but happiness is grown on trees by people who won’t ever truly care about us. How’s that for irony.

In my own personal efforts to find rest in things, people, and position, I encountered Peace himself. And all I know is that in my conversations with Peace, I didn’t need the sensation of happiness that we may associate with being at rest. Not even contentment can describe the aftermath of my conversations with Peace. What is left after these talks transcends most things that I have experienced, but it is what I imagine absolute hope feels like and more. It is not dramatic, but it is deeply moving. The knowledge of security.

I remember one morning driving to work at 5:30 am when I was 16 and speaking with Peace. It wasn’t an animated conversation. I didn’t gesture with my hands, and those who know me know that I do that a lot when I talk. I don’t even remember speaking out loud, but I do remember the settling that came into my heart by the end of that ten-minute drive. I was exhausted, emotionally drained, and not sure how I was going to get through that day, but Peace touched me and I won’t forget it.

The beautiful thing about Perfect Peace, is that you can be physically, emotionally, and mentally fatigued and still be comforted. You don’t have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and fight your way to a certain point before Peace can touch you; but you have to be able to put your pride aside and cry out for help. The only prerequisite to this peace is the resignation of the idea that we can get better on our own. To some this idea is very frustrating because it feels weak, but to me it takes a whole lot of pressure off. In my desperation I am not expected to clean myself up or pull myself together before Peace can meet me, He just requires my willingness to give it up to Him. I’ll take that any day.

My God is ultimate peace. Not only did He provide peace for us, but He decided to come down to the same earth that we are on to experience the despair and turmoil that we would have to face ourselves. Jesus cried out to the Father before He was crucified, asking if there was any alternative way to save humanity than dying that gruesome death. The answer was no. He knew ultimate pain, and therefore He could provide perfect peace.

Friend, there is a misconception about the peace that I know. Skeptics might say that I have made up God to be able to get through the awfulness of life. They say that in my willing ignorance I’ve created the ultimate cop out in my head. But if you’ll just indulge the idea of a god for a moment if you are a skeptic, the peace that my God extends is not ignorant. He knows what you and I are going through because He did it Himself, and then some. So if you find yourself in the throes of hopelessness and meaninglessness, as we all do at times, I encourage you to cry out to Peace in your time of need. He may surprise you.