Our Peace was Purchased at a Price

Today, I am especially thankful. The constant stomach ache and heartburn that I have had for weeks has been relieved and I feel stronger. I am so humbled by all of your prayers.

Why is it that we learn more under pressure? What does that say about our nature?

As soon as I start feeling stronger, I immediately go into my overdrive mode of "catching up". My goodness, look at all of my undone things. How will I ever finish this and this and this....oh my, I am getting sucked into it...already! Here comes the anxiety of our uncompleted earthly list. Before I know it, I am in a dither.

Once again, I am reminded that I have no strength, no purpose and no peace with out keeping my focus, first and foremost, on Him. My life gyrates from one emotional extreme to another. My time is spent in turmoil and every activity seems to produce an ever accelerating rise in frustration. Until finally, I sigh and stop the chaos and draw near to Him. I am Mary and Martha in one bi-polar package.

It never ceases to amaze me that I give Him the mess that I call my life and in return, He gives me beauty beyond description. Even more amazing, it is not as though He only offered me this miraculous exchange on one single occasion. That, in itself, would be awesome. But He does it daily. Some days, He gives me this wondrous Gift multitudes of times.

The human mind and heart cannot conceive that kind of love. We would immediately cry "FOUL" and "That's not fair!". We would whine that the exchange was completely warped.

What I lay down is the stuff that I cannot deal with, the stuff that I have completely messed up with my feeble attempts, the stuff that I took possession of that went against His will. And what He returns to me in exchange for my garbage is indescribable, perfect, unconditional, and always available peace and love that no one can describe in human terms.

And when He gives this gracious gift to me, He knows that I will be back to my ways again before the end of the day, maybe even in the next 5 minutes. But yet, He will pick me up out of the pit again. He knew before the creation of the world, what a train wreck that I would be without Him.

That is why the Maker of the Universe became the Savior of Man's Soul. We simply cannot do it on our own. He knew that we would face challenges that would overtake us without Him. He knew that we could not overcome our own sinful nature without Him. He knew that we could have no hope without Him.

God does not always change the circumstances that surround us. He did not change the circumstances for His own Son on the cross. But He always has a purpose for our circumstances, and He knows that we will face times when we cannot take one more step without Him.

He brought me to Isaiah 40::28-31 this morning. "We may grow weary and weak but He will renew our spirits if we will trust in Him. We will soar like eagles."

What amazing love, my sweet Lord. Help me to see others that way that You see them. I love you from the depths of my soul.