“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
“Jehovah Shalom – The LORD is Peace. Where is God in our plight or pain? We must remember that He is with us every step of the way and will bring peace, not fear, to our hearts.” 11-28-13
I wrote the above paragraph nine years ago. As I once again read the message it holds, I began to focus on the peace of God that I have experienced in the midst of challenging times.
As a spiritual exercise, I listed all of the hard things within these last nine years—loss of loved ones, health related issues of self and spouse, adjusting to a new normal in my daily life, needing supernatural strength, having to make some hard choices that personally I didn’t want to make, some things too personal to post, and many other events that have changed my life in ways I would never have dreamed. The list was long. But God’s peace and presence was with me during these times.
After listing the tough times, I then listed the untold blessings that have come my way these last nine years. There have been such wonderful moments that are too numerous to write in this post.
There’s one thing for certain about the good and the not-so-good moments or seasons that come into our lives. It is through our faith and trust in Jesus, that we WILL experience God’s presence, peace, and faithfulness.
Perhaps today, you would want to remember those life events of the past few years. I know some can be sad, but have found that we can see the blessings intertwined into those moments, as well. Sometimes, it is a very bittersweet place to be, but if we look, it’s a place where we are able to see a fraction of our life from God’s perspective. We are able to catch a glimpse of how He continues to lavish His love on us.
My prayer today is that you will remember the peace you’ve felt through your challenging times and know beyond a doubt that your faith sustained you, and that it still does, even up to this very moment in time.
The truth remains that God’s peace will be with us through every circumstance. Our struggles in life will change, but our focus should not. God is the author of our story and He is not yet finished writing it. That IS the Good News of the day.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, how comforting it is to know and experience the peace You bring to every situation that we have ever faced or will ever face in life. This world is not our home, for we have a home in Heaven awaiting us of which we can only imagine. Thank You for peace in our hearts that passes all human understanding. Thank You for carrying us through those times of hardships and uncertainty. Thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your only Son to take our sins upon Himself so that we might have the choice of eternal life spent with Him. Help us to focus on the many blessings that You have given us. You are not only a perfect loving Father, but very generous and One who lavishes Your grace upon us. We thank You and can never repay the debt of love we owe. We commit to praise and honor You completely all the days of our life. I pray these things in the name of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Leave a Reply