Make Peace.

Peace. We all want it. We all need it. But, if you're like me your days look anything but peaceful. We are pulled in so many directions, by so many inputs, demands, and voices.

I invite you this week to look for the voice of peace in your life. Be a peacemaker. Make peace.

Consciously take time each day to be aware of what pulls you towards peace and what stirs you into an internal frenzy.

Frenzy. That word is 'cringy', as my teens like to say.

To recognize peace, we must define it. I'd love to know your thoughts & perspectives as well, but to me peace really has nothing to do with what's going on around me.

I could be laying on a beach, listening to the waves, reading my favorite book, watching my husband and children frolic & laugh as they play in the sand... and still have inner turmoil.

(I mean, I AM willing to try creating this scenario... just to make sure. #wink )

For me, peace is a state of wholeness, a sense of being complete. It doesn't come from location, vocation, vacation... or even isolation.

I feel peaceful (complete) when I remember the God of the universe is bigger than all the turmoil, all the voices, all the demands, all the pain swirling around me.

It tends to sound like a Christian cliche and therefore its depth can be lost. However, peace is knowing we have a place of respite, a God who is constantly and consistently aware and available for our every concern.

His Greatness is our Peace.

So, this week I encourage you to SEEK peace, to cultivate a daily practice of continually turning your cares & concerns over to the only One who can truly carry them anyway.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

Did you catch that?

Peace can not reside with worry and fear. Jesus isn't asking us to pretend things aren't hard, or concerning. He's just asking us to trust Him in the midst of it. For me and most likely you, that's the place where peace thrives. That's where peace is made, peacemakers.

And a brief note on outward peace...

Perhaps this is the week to let go of the right to be right, the rage against the world for being worldly, and the 'Christian' pride of 'truth telling' that can often create the turmoil it seeks to dispel. We are Children of God, not Wardens of His Word.

"Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:16-19

Also, Christian friends, let's stop quoting this verse as if we get some sick enjoyment out of heaping burning coals on someone's head. All it means is our acts of service, grace and kindness can open one's eyes to God's love and lead them to lay down their own rage.

Let us intentionally seek to be peacemakers, not peacekeepers. Find your peace today, but don't keep it to yourself - GO share it with the hurting world!

Make peace.

Creating Hope Together,

Danielle