Peace {from Contemplating Beauty}

This week I had the great privilege of guest-posting over at Contemplating Beauty with the lovely Gina. 
I thought I'd share what I'd written here: 
-----------------------------------------------------

When Gina asked me to guest post for her, I was elated. 

When I read what she wanted me to post about, I became hesitant. 

The topic is, peace. 

Yep. 

Peace. 

What's not to like, right? 

The thing is, peace is the exact thing that I haven't been feeling lately. 

Just not feeling it. 

Jesus says, 

"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

But these days my heart has been troubled. 

I have felt fear. 

And more. 

Anger, frustration, and discontentment. 

Ah, discontentment, what a cunning foe you are. 

You come creeping in, without any forewarning. 

You invite your friends, selfishness, complaining, and impatience along. 

The four of you always show up in the most inconvenient times too. 

I feel like I have no energy to defend myself against your attacks

because I'm too busy dealing with difficult work situations, 

an irritated husband, or cross-cultural madness. 

But Jesus says, 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. 

I do not give to you as the world gives."

The world (and the enemy) will throw everything in our path: 

discontentment, fear, self-consciousness, anger, depression, 

hate, gossip, lust, materialism, greed, gluttony, 

laziness, sickness, sadness, and pain. 

But Jesus says, 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you."

Jesus gives us His peace, freely. 

It is a gift. 

One of the many gifts from our gracious Savior. 

Every moment of the day we can choose to accept the gift of peace. 

It's there for the taking.

In any and every circumstance, 

we can choose to say, 

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself 

give you peace at all times and in every way. 

The Lord be with all of you."

- 2 Thessalonians 3:16