Have you watched the news lately?
It’s troubling.
Civil War threatens Ukraine while Russia positions to pounce on the weakened country.
Over 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Nigeria. A worldwide campaign from LA to London rallied #BringBackOurGirls pressuring the Nigerian government to work harder to find them. It is feared many have been sold into marriages.
I don’t watch the news everyday. But when I do, it always puts my small worries in perspective. There is so much unrest, violence, injustice, and heartache in the world.
Yet I know that the worries we fear in our personal, daily lives threaten our peace even more than the world news. Some of us struggle through less than happy marriages. Some of us are taking care of aging parents, and the burden and heartache is great. While I know so many bear financial burdens, chronic illnesses, and mental illnesses.
All threaten our peace.
When grief struck my heart a few years ago, I questioned what Jesus meant when He told His disciples not to be troubled because He had overcome the world.
I asked Him out loud. Very loudly.
Over and over again.
“What did you mean? Am I missing something here?! There’s so much death and pain still on this earth.”
Jesus is big enough for my fretful, angry questions.
A few months went by and then one day I felt the nudge to look up that verse and read the words before it. And this is how the scripture reads…
Peace.
The miracle is not a perfect world, not yet, but…
[tweetability]…while we live in the middle of the Now and the Not Yet, despite our trouble, we can have peace.[/tweetability]
That’s what we’ll be reading about this week. Hope you’ll join me.
Pour a cup of your favorite morning drink. Light a candle. Grab a journal and pen. Write down all your burdens in that journal. Let it be the place to deposit all worries, and copy the verse for the day–the verse about peace. (10 reps of thankfulness thrown in for good measure will lift your burdens too.)
What are you struggling with this week? I’d love to pray for you. Leave a comment. I will reply, and I will pray.
Much Peace my friends,
Andy, I really love sharing in your thoughts, ideas, and getting to go with you step by step in your discoveries. You have a fine gift, and I am so excited about how you are using it. You are such a soulmate to me— and you have been since the day we met when you were just a little old 22 year-old girl. I can’t wait to see you!!!
I can’t wait to see you too! Love you my friend. Thank you for the sweet and encouraging comments.