Peace

During the Christmas season, we hear alot about 'Peace'. The word is in all of the Christmas plays. It's used throughout the Bible. True peace is only possible through Christ. The world is so thirsty for peace, but it is found nowhere. Only on a hill called Calvary can peace be found! I'm so thankful for that day as a seven year old girl, that I found peace through the blood of Jesus Christ!!

As a mother, I often long for 'peace'! We are constantly running and doing and working. Children are running in and out, the dog is barking and its utter chaos!!! I'll show my age here, but does anyone remember the commercial, "Calgon, take me away!!!!" It was a bubble bath, aimed at those stressful moms who have had enough and needed some peace!! Why is it we get so stressed out that all we wish for is 'peace and quiet', and then when we finally get a moment alone, all we want is someone to come around and make some noise!

In my Bible Study this morning, I read a sentence that gripped my heart. It sums peace up perfectly and puts it all in perspective. It read, "Peace isn't about our outer circumstances, but our inner environment." Wow, let that soak in! When I'm where I need to be with the Lord, a tornado can hit around me, and I'm still okay! When I've been in God's Word, and been in my prayer closet, life is so much sweeter, so much more peaceful! And yet, all the madness is going on around me. The girls are running and screaming, the dog's barking and tearing things up, my husband is in need of my assistance, or everything is breaking loose at work, it doesn't bother me..........why? My inner environment!!! He gives us peace, Him and Him alone! See, what's going on outside, it's just 'circumstances', circumstances change constantly. Our circumstances are always different. But our environment is more a constant. Environments vary and adjust, but they fundamentally stay the same. That's why I got such a blessing from that statement! If our environment is that of peace, then it doesn't matter what the circumstances are!

If we stay focused on Christ, our inner environment is that of peace, and our outer 'circumstances' don't mean a thing! We can be at peace no matter what is going on around us! What a sweet blessing! I just praise God for His peace! I'm so thankful that it is there for anyone, anytime. Those days, I forget, and let my circumstances take over, I'm so thankful I can still go to the Father and my peace is restored, refreshed, anew each day!