Day 204

I am grateful for peace.

"Peace I leave with you; My own peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27).

I wanted a photo for this day that won a contest for the best depiction of peace. A wild storm filled the canvas. There was torrential wind and rain and objects falling and tearing away. It was a scene of utter upset. In a cleft of the mountain though, a mother bird slept along with her wee ones, ensconced in the small nest held firmly and surely in the rock that would not be upset by any storm. She knew calm in the storm.

In the case of this picture, a man stands casually  in the doorway, apparently unmoved by the violent waves crashing all around him. He knows the lighthouse isn't going anywhere. He knows calm in the storm.


Jesus bequeathed to us not just peace, but His peace. His own peace. It's a peace that never fretted, never worried, never doubted, never kept him sleepless, even when the boat he was in was pitching in a rage that made those sailors' knees knock. The world cannot offer that kind of peace. Only Jesus can, and it is mine.


When I lost my mom, my world was hijacked. The day after though, the calm and thoroughness of His presence rose up, and I knew everything would be okay. I knew I would not only survive, but be tenderly and graciously carried through. I am grateful for that kind of peace every single day, even though I admittedly do pepper it with future tripping and pessimism.


Thank You, Lord, that every storm brings the opportunity to encounter Your own peace.