Day 7 – You Can Sleep In The Boat, Too

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The Shalom of YHWH stands watch at the gate of your heart and mind, not because you have achieved a sufficient spiritual maturity to deserve it, but because this is what His peace does. It guards. It stands watch. The question in this final section isn’t whether or not YHWH’s Shalom is available. It’s whether or not you will stop trying to fight chaos in your own strength long enough to let Shalom do its job.

Digging Deeper

Before the cross, Yeshua issued a final reminder of the gift that allows us to walk through this world as His disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” (John 14:27) He himself is our Shalom (Ephesians 2:14). To live from Shalom is to live from Him, placing our trust fully in YHWH. It’s not about how well we are able to juggle our responsibilities in life or our spiritual performance on any given day, but from the indwelling presence of His spirit, which is the wholeness of Shalom.

In Isaiah 26:3-4, Isaiah closed a beautiful passage of scripture with “You keep him in perfect shalom whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in YHWH forever, for YHWH God is an everlasting rock.” The foundation isn’t temporary. The foundation isn’t shaken by the chaos above it. You aren’t wading through chaos hoping for Shalom. You are standing on Shalom, watching chaos pass.

This is where my study brought me: Shalom isn’t the destination. It’s the ground we are standing on right now. It is the very presence of YHWH in our lives. Chaos is loud, bold, and relentless, because it’s temporary and knows it. But it can’t take away the foundation beneath our feet and it can’t touch the eternity in our heart. It can’t alter the everlasting covenant. Its only hope is to distract us, keep us busy, and wear us down, hoping we forget what supports us, sustains us, and keeps us.

Day 7 Takeaway

You were not meant to live as if the weight of the world rested on your shoulders. You were meant to live inside His Shalom, with your mind and heart governed by the peace that surpasses all understanding. And once you step into that, you become the embodiment of His Shalom in every room you enter, every conversation you have, and every season of your life.

His Shalom, through you, defeats chaos. This isn’t something you have to hope for. It’s who you already are. You were made for this. You just have to walk in it.

Here’s the Secret: Chaos Works for Us Now

A believer who has learned to recognize chaos for what it is can hone themselves against the weapon rather than succumb to it. Every wave of anxiety becomes a prompt to pray. Every moment of overwhelm becomes a reminder to turn to the Father. Every encounter with chaos helps us sharpen the reflex we need most in this life: reaching for His Shalom and anchoring ourselves more firmly in Him each time we do.

Paul reminded us of this in Romans 5:3-4. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. Each time we turn to the Father through the chaos, our trust deepens and our hope becomes less about our circumstances and more about His faithfulness, which never changes.

If we are the coal, then the chaos is the pressure, and when that pressure is applied to a child of YHWH, it produces something the adversary never intended: diamonds.

And this is what He sees when He looks at His people:

A Final Word

Chaos will keep showing up. This is what it does. It will be loud tomorrow and the day after that. It will feel urgent and enormous and overwhelming.

But process what you’ve read here, ruminate over these examples and remind yourself often of YHWH’s promises so that you know in the very core of your spirit that the foundation of YHWH isn’t temporary, it is eternal. His covenant isn’t fragile, it was put in place by the Alpha and Omega. The eternity placed in your heart by YHWH is more powerful than anything that will ever come against you.

You were made for this. Not for striving to get your head above water, not for the anxiety, not for the weight of a world in chaos. You were made to walk in the wholeness of your Father, to carry His Shalom into every room, every conversation, every hard season. That is not a distant hope. It is who you already are. The chaos doesn’t get the final word. It never did. YHWH does.

YHWH bless you and keep you

YHWH make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you

YHWH lift up His countenance upon you and give you Shalom. 

Numbers 6:24-26

Daily Battle Plan  

1. Shine a light on the darkness.

When we don’t identify the sources of chaos, it can feel like it is overwhelming our entire lives. Identify the root cause of chaos in your life right now and mentally separate it from the rest of your day. Bring it to the Father and watch how quickly its influence draws back.

1 Corinthians 14:33 – For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

2. Remember who holds the leash.

Whatever chaos you just identified is operating within limits it cannot change. It isn’t more powerful than YHWH. You are not facing something that is winning. You are watching something that is running out of time.

Revelation 12:12 – The devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short.

3. Refocus on the Father.

Chaos can’t survive your full attention being on YHWH. It needs your eyes off of Him in order to function. You don’t have to fight your way to peace. You just have to step back into it.

Isaiah 26:3 – You keep him in perfect Shalom whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

4. Rest on purpose today.

Even fifteen minutes of intentional stillness is an act of warfare. Chaos depends on your constant engagement. The moment you stop feeding it your attention, it has nothing to work with. Open your hand. Let it drop. Rest is not retreat. It’s a weapon.

Matthew 11:28 – Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

5. Draw from the greater source.

You don’t have to operate on your own strength. You are drawing from the strength of a Father who does not tire, a covenant that does not expire, and a victory that has already been secured. Stand in that today. Chaos has an end. You have an eternity.

Philippians 4:7 – The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

6. Don’t bring chaos, bring Jesus.

Before you speak, before you post, before you respond: ask which side you are working for. Every word today is either carrying Shalom into the room or adding to the noise and feeding the chaos.

You are a disciple of Yeshua. He carried Shalom into every room He entered. So can you.

Isaiah 52:7 – How beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes Shalom.

Rooted in the eternal.
Drawing from a well that never runs dry.
Bringing the Shalom of our Father wherever you go.

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Stepping Back into Shalom

A Daily Field Guide

Spiraling right now? Try this.

Mental health professionals use a technique called the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding method to interrupt anxiety. I’ve adapted it into something rooted in Scripture.

Selah is a direction written into the Psalms: a signal to pause, breathe, and reflect. These steps do exactly that. When chaos is actively pulling you away from Shalom, these Selah Steps can help bring you back.

There are 5 steps, work through each one out loud if you can.

The Selah Steps

You’ll find a quick reference pocket version at the end of this section.

Verses for the Selah Steps

Selah Steps Pocket Version

Cut out and tape to the back of a 3×5 index card and write the verse you chose above on the other side.

📄 Click here to download a pocket-size printable version.

Daily Practices

These practices are good spiritual hygiene for all of us. The more you can incorporate, the better off you’ll be.

• Avoid your phone during the first hour of your day. I use mine for Bible study notes and my mini crossword over coffee, but I keep it to that and read my physical Bible.
• Check the news no more than twice a day. You not knowing the latest in real time won’t change the state of the world, it will only change yours.
• Read, don’t watch. Text is harder to manipulate than video. Videos use tone, music, and composition to steer you toward fear and outrage. Text just informs.
• Choose quality over quantity. One long, objectively written news story will leave you more informed than ten one minute social media videos.
• Be mindful and purposeful about gratitude, prayer, and submission to God. Setting aside time to focus on Him, notice His blessings, and bring Him your stressors is the most effective way to combat chaos and remember that He is in control.
• Reconnect. Stay in your Bible every day. Keep that connection. Fiercely protect that time.
• Keep it old school. Read a physical Bible. Hand write notes. Write letters to loved ones. Write out Scripture. Return to or learn a hobby that doesn’t require a screen; woodworking, journaling, knitting, sewing, gardening, hiking.
• Get outside. A 10 minute walk every day will have drastic positive effects on your physical, mental, and spiritual health.
• Keep the Sabbath. Even God rested one day a week and He created us to need it. Once you do, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.