We only had to wait a few days after my last post for a good snowfall! The peace of a snowy morning always amazes me. The spaces between the snow crystals absorb sound, muting the regular noises of the neighborhood.
Peace comes in many categories: audible (like a quiet, snowy day) or visual (like watching slow flames in the fireplace), mental, emotional, and relational. We can experience peace with certain smells, tastes, or even textures that take us back to childhood. As a child, my favorite blanket was woven red with a pink satin border. Those blanket textures can instantly bring me peace 50 years later!
Whatever the source, these moments of peace are temporary. They only last until something changes, such as a growing family squabble or a traumatic memory rearing its ugly head.
This year brought our family a new ministry assignment in a new home, with new things to learn (like how to make wild grape jam!). It has not been a perfectly serene transition, as many things haven’t turned out as expected. God has been good to us (some things are even better than we anticipated), and we have rested in his peace more often than not. We are still growing and maturing on our spiritual journey, even after decades of following Jesus. Perhaps next year will be filled with even more peace!
All of us can experience a deep peace that transcends life’s circumstances. This serenity does not rely on everything going the way we want. We are not destined to be swayed by the temporary, for we were made for the eternal!
Fixing our minds on the One who never changes provides us with a mental anchor in the stormy seas of life. He is full of steadfast love for us!
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 26:3 NLT
Choosing to trust our Creator and Sustainer provides a warm blanket to smother the emotional icicles of anxiety and doubt that can keep us tossing and turning at night.
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord , will keep me safe.
Psalm 4:8
Although Jesus brought us a greater revelation of God’s character when he walked the earth, God did not change in the time between the Old and New Testaments. He is the same forever (Malachi 3:6)! Now through the righteousness of Jesus, we can have relational peace with the God of justice.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Romans 5:1
We may have a cyclone of circumstances howling around us, but we needn’t be emotionally or spiritually wrecked.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
John 14:27
Because we are complex creatures, peace comes to us in many forms. Snowy mornings are peaceful because they’re quiet! Christmas is coming, the season to celebrate the arrival of the Prince of Peace. May the peace you discover in tranquil times remind you of the greater peace Jesus gives.
Lauri Hawley 
Some days that peace seems so hard to find in the middle of all the chaos. But thank God for His faithfulness
LikeLiked by 1 person