Pathway to PeaceSample

"Peace I Leave With You"

Jesus

Just four hours before I was laid off, my journey to peace hit overdrive. I had wrapped up a meeting with a client friend who asked me “Who are you listening to? The world and its lies – like Eve with the serpent in the Garden – or God?” And then exhorted me to “Turn it over to Him. Everything. Your job, the school, your retirement fund, your assets, your dreams, anyone and everything you’re holding on to”. 

There is no dismissing God’s perfect timing. He is powerful and surprising, and He is on our side even when it doesn’t feel that way. It didn’t, but our job is to tune in and go with Him. To trust. To turn it over to Him. He knows and owns the large view. The long view. It's a difficult leap in the midst of pain and turmoil, but He’s got it.  Even a shred of our imperfect and sometimes shattered faith is enough to hold on to to experience this truth and emerge transformed.

I wouldn’t have chosen this route, but God’s perfect hand has proven infinitely better than mine and created an outcome far exceeding my hopes or capabilities. The training wheels are off and storms are still hitting, but it is well. It is well because God is my hope, and His peace can reign wherever I walk. My task is to tune in and join Him, which is challenged along the pathway, but He continues to win. 

When we decide to stop where we are to go to our Creator, to connect deeply and get to know Him, to seek answers and respond to what He teaches, storms do hit, yes, but we endure enveloped in a hope and peace that ultimately endure and most definitely pass understanding. So we keep going, held closely and equipped by a deeply involved God who loves and cares for His creation. 

While we may lose our bearing en route, his view is 360 degrees and calm. His calm can become ours. His rest is a promise. 

God will deliver, not if but when. His wisdom of all eternity is at our back. The wind, the waves, time, eternity, and all of existence are at His mercy. And He’s on our side. 

Learning to trust this truth and experience the peace that accompanies it is a journey. Begin by stopping. Breath. Pray. Go to Him. Devote. Recognize and experience His presence. Learn. Forgive. Be forgiven. Find balance. Heal. Go. Repeat. Your journey will ultimately confirm, God has it.

In what specific areas can you take steps of faith by giving control to God? How, when, and where can you proactively tune in to God and His presence every day to help you succeed on this path?