Peace

Today in Church we focused on the second week of Advent which is Peace.

Peace is from the Hebrew “Shalom” and means “completeness, soundness, and welfare”.

This is a summary of what we learned, and what we can do with that knowledge.

In scripture we can find examples of God’s Peace in several places. In Matthew 1:18-20 when Jacob finds out that Mary is with child – which he knows isn’t his – God sends an angel to tell Jacob not to be afraid, that the child in Mary was “conceived by The Holy Spirit”, and that the child Jesus will be born to save the world from sin. Can you imagine finding out that your bride to be was pregnant with a child that wasn’t yours? In this moment it would be VERY difficult to find peace, but Jacob trusts in the Lord and when he received this message he did as commanded and helped Mary bring Jesus into this world.

How do you respond when you feel like you’re not at peace? Most people (myself included) tend to struggle for control. We try to control things that are completely out of our jurisdiction, and it’s totally futile! All we do is add stress and strain to existing relationships, we take our frustrations out on those around us, and we make life harder for our friends and family. What we SHOULD do is surrender control to God Almighty. Let God take control of these situations, he is Almighty and he can handle any task. In fact, he already has a plan for this exact situation and it is up to us to put our trust in him.

It’s easy in these moments to give in to temptations, since they can make us feel good in a time of strife. Do you ever find yourself eating more food when you’re emotional? I know I do! It has been as struggle of mine for many years! Another easy trap to fall into is ‘retail therapy’. Buying yourself something new makes you feel good at least for a moment, but this type of spending is unhealthy and won’t make you feel better in the long run – trust me on that one, I know when I look around I am surrounded by things that I’ve used as distractions for far too long.

So what can we do instead? Recently when I’m feeling overwhelmed, over-stimulated, out of control – rather than struggling for some form of control – I’ve been reaching for my Bible. When I spend time in God’s word I draw Him closer to me, I surrender my control to Him, and I invite Him to fill me with Peace. Peace is the fruit of a relationship with Christ. Do not be anxious to place your trust in God like the disciples were in Mark 4:35-41. Instead, put your trust in God and let God give you peace in the story.

I don’t know what this website will become, but I think this is a great way for me to contemplate what I learned at church and maybe even get some feedback from someone out there. At the very least, this will become a place where my kids can one day go read about the stuff that was going on in their dad’s brain.