Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts … And be thankful [to God always]. [Colossians 3:15 (AMP)]
It’s that time of year again. Signs in stores say it, holiday lights in yards and on rooftops proclaim it, and we might greet one another in church with it. We send out cards with its message, sing of it and, yet, we’re bereft of it. We think we’ll have it when our chores are done, the cards mailed, the house cleaned, the tree decorated, the lights up, the cookies baked, the gifts purchased, the packages wrapped, and the bills paid. We sure we’ll get it if we reach our destination without delay or losing luggage or once our children arrive safely home. As long as everyone stays healthy, no food gets burnt, nothing is broken, politics isn’t discussed, no one gets drunk, and the back-ordered gift arrives in time, we’re sure to have it then. Yet, even when everything goes as planned (and believe me it won’t), it seems to escape us.
Peace—we all want it and yet we’ll never get it if we look for it in circumstances, possessions, places or people. Moreover, we’ll never find it if we think it is hidden in our attempts at perfection. It only God who is sovereign and omnipotent; we are merely flawed human beings and the sooner we accept that, the easier life will be. The peace we seek has nothing to do with perfection, prosperity, health or even lack of discord. It’s not dependent on circumstances or other people. The peace we seek is found in gratitude, love, graciousness, and forgiveness. We can only find true peace in Christ’s presence and our confidence in God’s plan. The peace we seek is a tranquility in spite of rather than because of our current situation. While it has nothing to do with what is happening around us, it has everything to do with what is happening within us and with whom we make our daily walk. When we walk with Him, we’ll experience a peace that truly exceeds our ability to comprehend it. Fortunately, we don’t have to understand it to experience it.
Peace be with you.
When Christ died, He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better—His PEACE! [Matthew Henry]
As earth’s first gardener, God knew a thing or two about agriculture. Recognizing that continually working a field depletes the soil of valuable nutrients, He commanded the Israelites to let their land remain fallow every seven years. During this yearlong land Sabbath, no produce was to be planted, pruned or harvested and any food that grew by itself, such as grapes or figs, could not be harvested, sold or stored. God promised to grant an abundant crop in the sixth year so there would be plenty of food to carry the people through the Sabbath year and well into the next years until a new crop was harvested. Considered ownerless, the produce that grew by itself could be eaten by anyone or fed to the animals. The Sabbath year was a test of faith; it required the Israelites to acknowledge God as the true master of the land, to trust Him for His provision, and to share with those less fortunate.
Also, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain. God can see what is in people’s hearts. And he knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way God wants. [Romans 8:26-27 (NCV)]
As the weather up north cools, our snowbird neighbors have begun returning to their southwest Florida homes. One neighbor recently arrived from Portland, Oregon, a city that ranks third in a list of cities with the most depressing winters. Their weather forecast alternates between cloudy with rain showers to partly cloudy with a 60% chance of rain and that’s not likely to improve! Their early November temperatures will range from highs in the mid-60s to lows in the mid-40s with a UV index that never gets above a 2. On the other hand, our ten-day forecast fluctuates between sunny and mostly sunny with no more than a 10% chance of rain. Temperatures will rise to the mid-80s during the day and fall to the mid-60s at night; the UV index is 6 or 7. In short, Portland is damp, gray and dreary and we’re dry, warm and sunny (and should wear sunblock). On my neighbor’s first day back in our tropical paradise, while relaxing on her lanai with a book, she happened to fall asleep. Upon waking, hearing the mockingbird’s happy song and feeling the warm gentle breeze on her face, she had a moment of confusion and forgot where she was. Feeling incredibly peaceful, relaxed and refreshed, for a moment she actually thought she’d died and gone to heaven!
Real estate ads can be somewhat misleading. “Needs TLC” usually means structural damage; a “handy-man special” requires rehabbing and money; “waterfront” probably has a basement that floods; “cozy” means really small and “intimate” is even smaller than cozy. “Tear-down,” however, means just that; while the property may have value, the house isn’t worth renovating. In our southwest Florida community, it is not unusual to see advertisements for homes with an asking price in the seven digit territory (none of which need TLC, handymen, have flooded basements, are cozy or intimate.) Since it’s difficult to believe there’s anything needing improvement in such expensive houses, the shocker is that some of those homes are listed as tear-downs. That hefty asking price is for the privilege of tearing down the existing structure and spending several millions more to build another one in its place.
Devotions of the Heart 