Sweet Peace

I am sitting down at the computer tonight with my mind full of many varied thoughts. I could go a million directions with them. I am looking forward to sharing with you (and rubbing it in to Kayla!) about the awesome fellowship I relished over the weekend with dear old friends. Some pics of Youth Challenge, and some pics from our day at the Creation Museum. But that will have to come over the next couple of days. Tonight, I'm going to cheat and steal the writing of someone else to communicate with my readers! The writer is snoring upstairs, but I have checked with him, and he doesn't mind. I'm taking from my hubby's blog, and I hope you'll enjoy. Peace, my friends....

Peace! Peace? Peace.
"I have found that in our life, with its ups and downs (emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc), there are different punctuation marks in our times of peace, or different types of peace we have. There are the highs of life, when all is working well, where family and friendships are good. These are times when peace is an exclamation point on a great day or week or month. These are times when favor is bestowed upon you, seemingly out of nowhere. People love you, life is grand, and success lays out the red carpet. I enjoy these times because they are so few. Their effect, however is felt and remembered for years. Aaahh . . . . Peace!

Then there are the parts of life's timeline where we wonder where and what peace is. When nothing seems to go right. When we wonder if being a colossal failure at everything is just our lot in life. When we wonder, "Could this be all there is? Am I really this weak and stupid?" These are the times of conflict when we are tempted to believe God doesn't care. These are the times when we feel "out of favor" with our Creator. These times are hard to pull out of. The question mark looms over us . . . Peace? We can almost hear our Enemy's laughter.

Finally, if we are faithful in our highs and lows, through them we come to a deeper knowledge of who God is. If we continue to get up when we fall, to still obey when we struggle, we will have survived the mental tests and realize what God-given peace actually is. This is a peace that rests in the knowledge of who God is, not what He does. This peace finds where joy is in any situation, good or bad. This peace is a plain statement. Nothing affects its place. Nothing moves its meaning. This peace remains a straight line, as unchanging as God Himself, because it is sent from God Himself. This peace is the best kind, because God is happiest when we can look up through the smoke of spiteful circumstance and still trust. We can look up when have been blessed with success beyond our wildest dreams and trust him WITH IT. This peace says "God is enough", regardless. In this time we now know what true peace is. It is peace . . . period . . . Peace.

This timeline is part of our process. God leads us to and through each phase, building us as we go, leading us to what he wants us to become. It does take time, but the time it takes is really different for each person, and God ordains it. He knows all and plans all. Sometimes I become frustrated when I am not "learning" fast enough, compared to others. But I have come to realize that God is leading each of us individually, at his pace.

Yes, the great warriors of the Kingdom are those who train their focus to remain on God's will in any time. However, God uses everyone, and surprisingly enough, the weak are his first choice. Take heart in whatever part of your life you are. As the saying goes, "Know Him, Know Peace. No Him, No Peace."

Peace."