Darkness and dark clouds seem to be hovering over us all lately. A rumor of war has become reality. Continued transmission of disease that shut down our societies threatens to again bring life to a halt. Financial pressure comes with inflation, especially for those who lack a cushion of resources – fill the gas tank or the refrigerator?
Some of us have peace in the midst of this uncertainty. I am one of them. There was a time in my adult life that I had no peace.
I remember that season clearly. I had a job and a husband and a good life. But I was continually discomfited by my own shortcomings. Yes, perfectionistic tendencies were part of the problem, but I knew I was not measuring up to the person I wanted to be. A friend invited me to church, and I went. I found acceptance and love there, and the love for God and His ways planted in my heart by loving grandparents and my mother sprouted. I finally understood that I could not measure up no matter how hard I tried. God sent His son to pay the price for my shortcomings, my sins, and I could choose to receive His mercy and eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Peace came with the gift of never-ending life and the Holy Spirit living in me. Peace has followed me all my days since: Through two pregnancies, illness in my own body, recognition of addiction in my much-loved life partner, facing a health crisis with one child, and unwanted divorce.
Through all that and now through a time when many people seem to have lost their way, God has given me peace. He’s provided all I need. He’s given me wisdom to help my ongoing health problems and eventually, I believe will heal my body as He has my soul. I have peace because I know that, despite all the evil that walks in this world because of the choices of human beings, He’s still God and evil will one day cease and good will triumph.
Do you need peace? Seek the face of the Lord God Almighty, acknowledge that you cannot fix yourself, let alone this world, and receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross. He died for you and me so that we might be forgiven and restored to relationship with the Father and receive the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:1&2 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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