“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phill.4:6-7
Christmas cards not finished, shopping for the angel tree left undone, two angel outfits to create, twelve pound cakes still to make…frazzled, you might say so. So why was I so surprised yesterday that I had a meltdown after being told by my son that he had forgotten his science project at home? Already at his school, car still idling, his head peeking in the passenger side window…I was not only irate, dare I say I was dressed in sweats and a sweatshirt, greasy hair, glasses on, bra off and morning breath extraordinaire.
Driving back home yet again to pick up my sons’ work, I was on the phone with my sister in a flash, almost in tears, commiserating about my stresses. After receiving some welcome comfort, I then called my best friend and my ‘Elizabeth’. She told me to just stop! She asked if I had been in the Word yet this morning. I told her I had wanted to, had given her the excuses why I hadn’t and then was quiet as she shared what she had read in 1Peter that very morning. I was touched that God had blessed her so, but was a bit irritated that she didn’t share the same comforting words that my sister had given me, nor had she justified my behavior…ouch!
When I got home I gathered up my Bible, ‘My Utmost for His Highest’, ‘Streams in the Desert’, and my journal…I was packed and ready for war. I had my nuclear weapons aimed and ready. Of course only minutes into my reading the Lord spoke right to my heart. As much as I had wanted to make this Christmas about Him, it was slowly becoming about everything but.
In just minutes I was feeling like I could breathe again. Perfect peace washed over me, that peace that surpasses all understanding, so much so, that I fell asleep. Those that know me, know that I am a morning person. I never fall asleep at 9:30am, 7:30pm maybe, but never 9:30am. My husband came in to find me in a state of heavenly rest that surprised even him.
My 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines peace as; a state of quiet or tranquility, freedom from disturbance or agitation. The only way to feel ‘Peace on Earth’, is to know Him. If we are not feeling this peace then we are walking too far away from the one who gives this surpassing tranquility so freely. May His peace be with you today!
(The picture of my Christmas angel was taken quite a few years ago.)
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