How is your peace?

 John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
It’s interesting how the past few weeks have all seemed to focus on peace. I know it’s easy to have my peace taken away. I get up and start the morning thinking, “Today I’m not going to let anything bother me…” that lasts about as long as it takes for me to spill toothpaste on my blouse, drop the cup of hot water I picked up, etc. It irks me that I can be so clumsy and I suddenly realize I’m feeling hot and bothered. I’ve lost my “peace” for the moment.
Daily things can grab at you and give you rough moments, but I think the peace this verse is talking about is a different sort of peace. Not the surface ups and downs that throw your mood into a wobbly briefly, but this is the rock-bottom foundational peace Christ wants to give us. It’s not something that’s going to change with the winds of time, but it’s there to help us as we walk through a dark valley, as we enjoy a special moment. He even tells us it’s not a worldly peace – I think we all are aware of how unpeaceful our world is right now. The solutions being offered to solve the world’s peace problems are only Band-Aids. They won’t last.
The other thing I notice is the verb He uses. He’ll give it to us – which implies that we must do something. Christ can only offer it; if we refuse to reach out and take it, He’s not going to force-feed it to us. I can come home feeling frustrated about something – then I think, “I’m trying to do this on my own – again! Sorry, Lord.” When I reach out and take hold of Him, then I can feel the peace reaching out to wrap its loving arms around my battered heart. Why do I often jump the gun and then realize, “Oops, guess I didn’t really ask God about this first.”  I’m so thankful that we have such a merciful God who never says, “Sorry, that’s the limit for you.”
A helpful tool for me when I’m in the middle of a tough day is to use my imagination. I say to myself, “Ha, everything’s going wrong – guess Satan is not happy with me, so that’s a good sign!” I picture him charging toward me throwing poison darts with all his might yelling, “Get her!”  It may sound strange, but it helps me to remember we are warriors in a spiritual battle; the more intense the battle the closer to victory we must be getting or he wouldn’t be so concerned.
May you walk in peace this week – even when/if tough things come along.

My ways to absorb peace - watching the sky (last night looked like a huge spilled out bale of wool), crunching through leaves, admiring the fall colours, and reading a good book. When you can do all at the same time - oh my! :0) What do you do that brings peaceful moments to you?