But there's one thing I discovered. If I stop thinking so much about the cold and I look around me, I can't help but feel peace and wonder. The scenery that surrounds me is simply amazing. There isn't much color on a winter landscape, it's pretty much black and white. But there is something very calming, very serene about that. And when it snows... and the soft snow flakes gently touch my face, I can't help but stop and absorb the calm and quiet that surrounds me. It's beautiful and I forget all about the cold.
This experience makes me thing about life in this world.
Life on earth is pretty crazy. Stress is something most of us, if not all of us, experience on a daily basis. We don't even have to turn on the TV and watch the news to have stress in life. Just the home life can be pretty stressful. We have schedules to keep, bills to pay (where is the money coming from?), social networking to maintain, people to please, family decisions to make, and an incredible to-do list to accomplish in 24 hrs!! (sleep? what's that?) To complicate things the neighbors' dog won't stop barking, the ravens got on my trash and spread it all over the neighborhood (I have to clean it? What?) and the city hasn't cleared the snow on our road yet. (I should have bought that snow machine!)
Then we turn on the TV and learn about wars and violence everywhere, people sleeping on the streets, kids doing drugs and teenagers becoming parents. Politicians don't get along, and the one I wanted to win the elections didn't! And somewhere in the world there are children who go to school hungry, and go to bed hungry.
Is my world crazy or what?
But then... there's always a but. And this is a good one. :) Very good, because God says that He'll give me His peace. Plus He says that His peace is not like the one the world gives. This is a great promise because the peace my world gives is very momentary if any, and is conditional. But God's peace is wonderful. The world doesn't understand it, but really it doesn't have to. The important thing is that He promises it and His promises are true!
So in the midst of all this craziness, I can find peace in God. How? Because I know He's taking care of me. He's got me covered. He protects me in the shelter of His wings. He has me in the palm of His right hand. Wow! That's a big hand! But my God is a big God!
And you know... receiving His peace doesn't mean that my problems will go away. In the words of one of my favorite songs, by Scott Krippayne, "some times He calms the storm, and other times He calms His child."I can have peace in the middle of the storm...
And I can have peace in a very, very, VERY cold winter. Plus there's a few other promises I'm holding on to for this. Phillipians 4:13 and I Cor. 10:13.
"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
