Where do I find my peace?

Do you know the American Sign Language sign for peace?  Let me see if I can accurately describe it to you:  place your right hand on top of your left hand, palms facing each other...lie them this way in front of your chest, arms bent at the elbows, of course.  Then, slowly slide the right hand in a circular motion until the hands are in what looks like a praying hands position, then continue the sliding motion but pull your hands away from each other as though you are sweeping cares away softly.  The whole motion is a nice, smooth circular one....hands together, circle into praying position, then wipe cares away. 

This is peace.  Hands can be wringing in anxiety, rubbing together as though the friction will produce electricity to get your brain working to solve a problem....then, you remember to turn to prayer, to hand struggles over to God's care, to cast all cares on Him, to praise Him and thank Him for the trial...then, He wipes the cares away from you and on to Himself as the sovereign King.  Ahhh....peace of mind.  Someone really big and powerful has all my cares on His back.  Wow.

The heavenly Father has been so gracious to me of late....well, all the time, but you know what I mean when I say, 'of late'...it means I'm really aware of His work, His leading, His teaching me. He's been so merciful.  And it seems He's impressing upon me the same message over and over again.  Peace. It is found in His son.  Circumstances do not change the condition of peace in which I can exist.  As I allow my praise and petitions to transform worry, stress and anxiety into prayer, then I will have the peace of Christ Jesus.  God promises this to be so in His word.  I believe His word.

One praise practice I've adopted for stressful moments is my ABC's of Jesus.  When I get really riled up, nervous, or overwhelmed, I start thinking of Jesus alphabetically.  Adonai, atonement, adored, access to the Father, beautiful, Bridegroom, brother, bread of life, covenant maker, Christ, deliverer, exalted, endless in love, eternal God, faithful, friend, first and last, glorious, good, gracious, holy, hallelujah, high priest, Immanuel, joy, Jesus, justification, king of kings, Lord of lords, lover of my soul,  messiah, master, mediator, name above all names, omnipotent, omnipresent, only true God, prince of peace, powerful, quietness of my heart, redeemer, refuge, rock, righteousness, salvation, sanctification, shelter, truth, unending love, united with the Father, victorious over sin, wonderful, eXalted, Yahshua, Zealous for the  Father's house....and on and on, I go.  By the time I get through the alphabet...I always, not one time has it failed, feel more relaxed and peace filled.  God inhabits the praise of His people, our minds set up him will bring us perfect peace.  So, I know that my mind completely centered on Christ is what leads to peace filled thinking for me.

When we are anxious, we are told in Philippians 4 to think on a certain variety, or quality of things: good, lovely, just, pure, true, of good report, of virtue, of praise....think on such things and the peace of God will guard your mind in Christ Jesus.  God knows what He's talking about, doesn't He? 

There is a powerful choice we must make in this peace search, though.  We must choose what we will think.  We get to choose the topics of our minds - when agitation comes, do we go down the road of insanity, or do we turn to a road of trust, thanksgiving, God's wisdom, and good counsel?  When a loved one is ill, dying, or badly injured, do we go down the panic road, or believe in God's sovereign care, His timing in the number of their days, and His love for them that is greater than our own?  Any number of opportunites arise in which our  minds must take action. Which action or thought process do we choose?

We get to choose.  We have to choose.  The peace is there...already available.  It is not withheld from us at all.  We just have to do the action of moving towards the giver, accept the gift, and use it in our lives.  Peace..the kind found in Jesus, really works.  I promise.

Blindsided

Living in this world should have taught me by now that walking along a path freely and pleasantly will most often ALWAYS have a moment when I am blindsided by something not so pleasant.  Why am I surprised by anything?  Why do I not learn to expect darts and arrows along the pleasant path, blindsiding me, hitting me from behind, or jumping out at me from a bush along the path?  What is my problem with not learning to enjoy the path while also knowing, with no doubt, that something ugly will jump out at me eventually?  If I would enjoy my journey with this inner knowledge, I could chuckle at whatever creature tries to surprise me or make me wet my britches in fear!

This past couple of weeks have held events that have been those type of blindsiding moments.  Of course, my usual reaction is upset, agitated spirit, fear.  Silly, immature me.  These upsets are mere reminders to me of my low grade in this art class ...this learning the art of being still before God. Knowing He is God.  None of the fiery darts sent my way surprise Him.  He already has plans to use the fire to mold and shape me, to forge into me the image of Jesus. 

I admit to being weary of the heat.  Its constancy is not friendly to me.  Though, even as I type that, I have this sense of the heavenly Father saying, "Gayle, that fiery dart does not seem friendly, but it will do you much good, eventually, if you let me deal with it in your life."

Do you ever get those little whispers from God that make you say, "Really?  Are you sure?  'Cuz this isn't looking too good right now."  

But, yep, that is what I'm hearing.  I even cleaned out my ears to make certain. 

Being blindsided....surprised by outer forces thrust upon you when you least expect them....I want to learn to expect these things to happen in this fallen world; to not let them knock me off my foundation of strength in Jesus.  I want to always seek God in the face of these immediate flashes of frustration.  When I am in difficult situations, I want to seek the Father. When I am delighted in life, I want to praise Him.  When I am in pain, I want to trust Him.  In every moment, I want to worship Him and thank Him.  (Thank you, Terry Gillen, for these thoughts on God.)

Good thing God does not give failing grades to His children in this classroom of life, in this training ground of stillness before Him.  His patience and mercy over me,, as He observes me walking my journey, are such gifts to me.  I get goosebumps when I really sit and ponder how abundantly those two gifts are poured over and over me, soothing me, loving me, calming me.  Wow, God.  You are 'cha'mazing', as my Phillip would say.

A precious friend recently told me to learn to laugh at the unexpected..make it expected so that I CAN laugh.  A hearty chuckle at the insanity of the shape, size, smoke and whizbang noises the fiery darts take on as they head my way.  Be ready, duck outta the way, laugh as they 'whiz' on by...say, 'Yep, that was a new one...wow!', or, 'Dang, never saw that one coming...INCOMING!', or, 'Yep, just as I suspected...it happened.', or, 'Really?  How lame!'

I'll get better with age, I'm sure.  But, just exactly how old do I have to get?  Hmmmm. 

Love to all...expect the unexpected...you won't be so surprised and agitated.  Especially when you know WHOM has the direction of the fiery arrow in his sight, and He will care for you as it flies.