Finding Peace

Another one worth reposting--


I keep hearing this song run thorough my mind--

I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river in my soul.

Problem is, rivers aren't always peaceful.

Neither is life.

Face it, we search for peace, pray for peace, think if we simply had this or that, we'd find peace.

But we don't.

Life is fast moving, full of rapids and shallow places. The easy flow of deep waters is less often experienced than we'd like.

No, peace isn't something to be grasped.

I really began thinking about this after a particularily rough week when my faith was tested and unfortunately, I found myself failing. I'm taking steps of faith and find the ground kind of unstable. Yet God's spirit continues to pull me along, depsite the rough, spashing current and stomach churning dips and surges.

I've screamed and cried all along the way. I don't like wild rides. I avoid roller-coasters like I'd avoid a person with a deadly plague. No kidding.

The uncertainity of the situation, the having to really have faith that I'm hearing God, that he has a plan and purpose was more than I had in me to withstand. I begged God for confirmation.

"Please tell me, just one more time, this is what I'm supposed to do."

Yes, I'd had words before. But I needed another. That old one had wore off. Maybe things had changed. Maybe He'd changed his mind. Just one more word and I'd have peace about it. Or one call, something to give me hope that I was going in the right direction.

Then I came across A Holy Experience blog and a particular post about Joy where Ann Voskamp wrote

"Possessions in our hands are never as valuable as

Peace in our hearts."

Then in small words beneath this phrase, I read:
Peace is a Person

And I realized, it's not what we have, or hear, or hold. It's not in the seeing things happen the way we hope they'll happen. It's not in avoiding risks, jumping out of the innertube before you hit the rapids and swimming to the safety of the shore. No, peace is found in that Person, the One who gave His all for us, Who dwells in our hearts if we'll let Him.

That's our true sourse of peace.

It's in Him

And only Him.

A friend sent me the words to the song in this video from Third Day. I found it summed up my thoughts on all of this.

This part stood out the most:

"Give me a revelation

I've got nothing without you,

I've got nothing without you."

Real peace comes from Jesus' presence in our lives. Trusting that He loves us and will guide us in the right direction. Yeah, we'll get hurt from time to time. No we won't always have things the way we want. Yeah, we'll have to ride the rapids sometimes and others, we'll have to carry our boats past the shallow, stagnant parts. But we can rest in the peace that He's right by our side, that he understands each and every situation we go through. He lived amongst us. He knows. He knows.

Father,

Help us to find our peace in you, understanding that when we seek you first, everything else will follow along as it should, as your plan unfolds. You love us. You have good in store for us and protection in the rough spots. Thank you for your willingness to dwell with, within and all around us.

Amen

photo is of a friend's pond

video is from YouTube- Third Day's Revelation