True peace is only God-given.  That’s not a line, some spiritual words, or a slogan for a bad day- it’s real life.  In the past few weeks I’ve taken my eyes off of Jesus and have placed them squarely on my circumstances.  The breathtaking peace that I had been experiencing has been replaced by anxiety and fear. Fear of the unknown, fear that God is no longer in control of my situation and the lie that it is all up to me (that I need to take control).  I am a spiral of questions and doubts and it’s sucking the life out of me. I’m anxious, I’m stressed, and I have a constant headache.  I’m crying all of the time, I’m physically exhausted, and I cannot calm down. Whenever I misplace my trust in God into my own hands, peace is no longer able to abide in me.  Not true peace, anyways. I may be able to find temporary peace in a phone call, a text message, someone else’s story, a song, or a catchy instagram post with a hopeful quote- but that kind of peace, the peace that the world gives, leaves you grasping for more. It comes in for a moment and is gone in a moment.  When God says that the peace He gives is unlike the peace the world gives, He.is.not.lying. The peace that the world provides does not last and you cannot remain in peace seeking safety and trust and hope in humans or worldly things. Take it from me – it does not work. It leaves you trapped in anxiety, it causes you to drain the people around you, it keeps you chasing and seeking with no fulfillment.  

But, Jesus.    

Jesus fills you with a peace that remains so long as you keep your eyes on Him.  The peace He provides does not cease, does not leave you grasping for thing after thing to keep you full, but keeps you seeking and grasping for more of Him.  Keep seeking God, face-to-face in the cool of the day, and His continuous peace will reside in you.  

 

**I was down the shore a few weeks ago and I love to watch the sun rise out of the ocean.  It’s usually about 15 minutes of my morning and then I go back to sleep. This one particular morning, it had stormed the night before and I almost didn’t get out of bed to see the sunrise because I figured with all the clouds there’d be nothing to see, but God gave me a little nudge and so I got up and walked down to the beach.  At first all there was to see was a little red sky peeking out from some of the clouds (red sky in the morning sailors take warning), but as time passed from 5:30, to 5:38, to 5:45 the clouds started parting in a way that as the sun rose the light beams shown out in such a way that simply took my breath away.  But as you’ll see in the pictures below, the clouds never left, they were there the whole time, even getting darker and thicker as the sun was rising.  And yet, it was stunning.  I sat and watched the sky change for 50 minutes.  When it’s a clear morning the sun rises in the most peaceful way, but these clouds on this particular morning was what made this sunrise so unforgettable. Had there not been a storm overnight, had these clouds not been in the sky, this sunrise would not have had as much beauty and uniqueness as it did. The clouds parted in just the right way to catch the big orange ball for just a few seconds, and it was clear that God had designed this sunrise to speak directly to me about my storm and the heavy clouds I feel like I’m living under right now.  These storms, these clouds, are necessary. They are an essential part of making my future what it is going to be. These clouds will part, the sun will rise, and my story will be so much more unique and beautiful because of it.  

I went on a run with my sister after I watched the sunrise, and I showed her the 5th picture below before we walked down to the beach.  When we hit the sand she said “look at that! the sun came up and then the clouds came” I looked at her and said “no, the clouds have been there the whole time, that’s what made that picture so beautiful”  …and that is why God nudged me out of bed that morning.