Wednesday, July 13, 2022

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  What does peace mean to you?  For me, it’s more of an outdoor, not indoor feeling.  It’s quiet, not noisy.  It’s individual time, not group time.  It’s eyes closed, not open.  It’s an internal conversation, not external.  It’s early morning or late night, not midday.  It’s ears open and mouth closed. 

Now, how does your body, mind, and spirit tell you that you need more peace?  I have a few tells, but the most predominant is body, which produces pain across my upper back and shoulders.  Mind causes me to want to shut down and sleep.  Spirit causes restlessness, until I rest in Him. 

Something I experience, which you may also, is that my body, mind, and spirit at times fight themselves to keep me away from seeking the peace I need.  I don’t know, maybe that sounds very strange to you.  Here’s a perfect example…In my younger years there was a certain time of the month that I would become rather irritable and I would literally have this conversation with myself.  “Just take a Midol.  You’ll feel better.”  To which I would respond in a louder tone, “I don’t need a Midol!”  “Yes, you do.  Just take a Midol.”  Granted, this was all going on in my head.  Much of the time, it’s those internal, nonverbal conversations that will raise your level of angst, unrest, and a lack of peace.

In Mark 4:35-41 when the apostles found themselves on a boat, in the midst of a storm, worrying if they were going to drown, they found Jesus in the stern of the boat sleeping.  The apostles seemed a bit bewildered that Jesus wasn’t concerned about them possibly drowning.  Jesus’ response to the apostles makes me smile. ‘He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”  Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?”’

I know, it’s easy to say, “But He’s God.  He can be calm.  He doesn’t have anything to worry about.”  That could be very true.  He doesn’t have anything to worry about, but He does care and He does love you.  At times, I think our actions cause His level of peace to go down.  He wants great things for us and when we don’t want to accept the path to those great things, He knows we’ll end up making choices that aren’t great for our physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing.  Take some time this week to find your best path to peace, when life and those voices in your head start fighting you.  Don’t wait too long before you shout out “Quiet!  Be still!” 

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

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#LaurenDaigle – Hold On To Me