Peace of Heart and Mind

In John 14:27 we read some of Jesus' words to his disciples, and to us,  "I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give."  (New Living Translation)

A friend of mine told me recently that when her son and daughter-in-law were celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary, her son said in a teasing tone of voice,  "Nothing but smooth sailing all the way!"  Every person who has been married for ten years knows well that there are rough patches in every marriage.  In fact, there are bumps in the road in the life of every person.  Unfortunately, life is not always smooth sailing.

My mother-in-law used to talk about "peace at any price."  Truly, peace is priceless, because without it we cannot enjoy anything life has to offer.  Lack of peace infects every relationship and every event we experience.  But, if we are going to have peace, we must be able to find it in the storms of life, because the winds of adversity howl and the rains fall in torrents upon us from time to time.  If we are going to have peace, not only can it not come from our circumstances, but often it must come in spite of our circumstances.

How, then, can we find peace in the middle of the storms of life?  The secret is found in a well known passage of Scripture, Philippians 4:6-7, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds AS YOU LIVE IN CHRIST JESUS."  (New Living Translation).  And never forget, when you are in the furnace of affliction, the One who was in the fiery furnace with the three Hebrew men is in your furnace too!

Father, thank You that we can experience Your wonderful peace even in the most trying of circumstances, because our peace is found in You.  Thank you that wherever we are, You are there too!!!  Amen.