Perfect Peace

It is 8:00 a.m. and the dog is barking like a crazy animal because a truck pulled up in front of our house.  The wind is blowing wildly, the snow is coming down fast and furious and suddenly I hear a loud crack.  One of the branches from our neighbors tree has broken off and fallen into our yard.  We go to the backyard to check it out and all we can say is "Yep! there's a branch in our yard" and we traipse back into the house only to find one of us has stepped in dog poop.  Sigh!

Now imagine another scenario - It is 8:00 a.m., the sun is shining and everything is still and quiet.  The dogs greet me with wagging tails and happy hearts.  I let them out to take care of business and they quietly and happily come back in for their breakfast.  The smell of fresh coffee and hot blueberry muffins permeates the house as I sit down at the table to read and enjoy my coffee and muffin while the sun pours in and the world wakes up.  At about 8:30 a.m. we see our friendly neighborhood squirrel and his friend the robin happily playing tag along our fence - their daily play date.  And the sun shines on.

Which of these scenarios does your life look like?  Or is it a combination of both?   For some very odd reason, I honestly thought scenario #2 is what our retired life would look like all the time. Oh, we do have days once in a while that are quiet and uneventful.  But most days are not.  There is always something that needs to be done, or something that happens, or a dog barking wildly and yes, sometimes we step in dog poop.  In my vision of retirement, there was no stepping in dog poop!

I have learned though, that peace does not necessarily equate with retirement.  The peace comes in knowing that God is in charge of all those wild crazy days as well as the uneventful days.  He has us exactly where He wants us and as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Him, we are in perfect peace. He is the constant among all the chaos and all the calm.  I read somewhere that "Your level of peace is directly related to your level of trust in God.  The more you trust God, the more peace you will experience."  So true!!

Just as He is in control of my days, He is in control of your days - wild and crazy or calm and uneventful.  He has you exactly where He wants you. And as long as you keep your mind on Him, He promises His perfect peace.  His peace is found inside your heart, not in your circumstances.

The verse I am about to quote here is actually the very first scripture verse I ever memorized.  Hiding this verse in my heart has helped me tremendously through all kinds of turmoil.  I will be quoting it from the King James version of the Bible because that is how I memorized it.  No matter which version you read, it gives the same message - stay focused on Jesus and you will have perfect peace and strength to deal with the chaos.  And that's a promise!

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.  Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."  Isaiah 26: 3&4