Peace

There are two times in my life where I have felt the peace that passes all understanding. Neither time was any of it my doing. I hadn't prayed or showed any extraordinary kind of faith. All of the sudden, in very dire circumstances, a peace so tangible I could've sworn it was touchable, swept over me. For just a few minutes, I experienced perfect peace. It was a calm that was other-worldly. It made me realize how at war my soul is most of the time. It was like the stillest, most glass-like water you've ever seen. It was like a breeze-less day in need of no breeze.

I can still remember the times very vividly and I often refer back to them, hoping to get that peace again sometime in my life. I don't know if will ever arrive again in this life, but it sure gave me a glimpse of the next life to come. If that's how it feels to be in heaven, I'm ready to go!

But the truth is that even when my soul feels distracted and discombobulated, I still experience the peace that comes from knowing Jesus. It may not always be tangible like what I expressed, but it is there nevertheless. It is most especially there when my faith connects with His heart.

Even, though, when my faith falters, Jesus is still Peace. He is the Prince of Peace, and this kind of peace is offered to all the world. It encompasses so much and promises more than we could ask for. It secures my eternal future. It shelters me from the fiery darts. It calms me in stormy seas. It never lets go. It holds me upright when I want to faint. With this peace comes so many promises from God. Jesus's peace is truly the peace that passes all understanding. If we look around at our world, it seems that we should not have peace. It seems impossible. So the fact that we do is testimony to all that Jesus offers through His Word.

Often, glimpses of His peace come in the darkest part of the night. When our life is bright with sunshiny prosperity, we rarely stop to feel the peace. We are at peace with the world and all is well. But the world always fails us, in one way or the other, and then we find ourselves in the dark, curled in a ball, praying for relief.

Jesus stands in the dark with us and He holds out His hand. The moment our fingers connect, peace fills our hearts, because suddenly we know whatever happens here is not the end. He is in fact the end. And the beginning. We can place everything in His hands and know that it is all safely kept with the God of the universe.

Now that is peace.