Give peace a chance...

I was married to an addict who would come in late and incoherent, sometimes passing out in our son’s bedroom. This frightened me because my ex-husband often would black out and my son was small being only 3-years old. I, of course, never shared this with my son or my daughter for that matter. They were much too young to carry the burden of their parents.

One afternoon, I was home alone with my son.  We were on the couch watching Nickelodeon…Blue’s Clues, Little Bear, etc. when he turned to me and grabbed my face. He kissed me and said, “Mama, you don’t have to worry about me. There is a giant lion outside my window. He keeps me safe.” I laughed, and we spoke about it a bit. I asked him if the lion was a girl or a boy and what color; about his roar. Then we slipped back into watching cartoons. I honestly, did not give it too much thought as children are often wildly creative when making up stories.

Soon after, my ex-husband and I decided it was time to part ways (a story for another time). My sister and her family lived across the street, so our children would often play together. About a week after my ex-husband’s departure, my nephew was over playing with my son. After snack time, he crawled up into my lap and asked me if I had ever seen the giant lion that was outside Keller’s window. He proceeded to tell me how big the lion was and that it was there to keep Keller safe.  He could see it from his bedroom window and would often hear him roar when Keller’s daddy would come home late at night. In that moment, it occurred to me that the lion would roar to keep my ex-husband from passing out on Keller’s bed; instead directing him to the other twin bed in the room.

Just because you don’t see Him protecting you, doesn’t mean He isn’t there.

Be strong and brave, and don’t tremble in fear of them, because the Eternal your God is going with you. He’ll never fail you or abandon you! Deuteronomy 31:6

But let them all be glad, those who turn aside to hide themselves in you. May they keep shouting for joy forever! Overshadow them in your presence as they sing and rejoice. Then every lover of your name will burst forth with endless joy. Psalm 5:11

What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by an amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow he has made. How then could he forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world. Luke 12:7

If your Spidy senses can’t detect His presence, don’t presume you are alone.  I wasn’t alone lying on the abortion table. I wasn’t alone in a loveless marriage. I wasn’t alone when my daughter left for college and never called her mother (wink, wink, tisk, tisk). I wasn’t alone when my mother had a quadruple bypass. I wasn’t alone when I ran out of gas and had no money to fill my tank. I wasn’t alone when I laid in the dark and screamed at Him for my life not being what I thought it would be at 45-years old, still single and struggling.

Who could ever separate us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love, even though it is written: All day long we face death threats for your sake, God. We are considered to be nothing more than sheep to be slaughtered! Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything! So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! Romans 8:35-39

We MUST learn to have faith if we are going to walk in it. Maturity in Christ requires us to quit relying on empirical evidence such as what our eyes can see or normative evidence, what our hearts feel but instead knowing who God is and what He has promised. He gives us things from the moment we accept Him as Savior: peace, love, forgiveness, mercy, grace but it is our responsibility to accept those gifts and apply them to our daily lives. It is a choice to love. It is a choice to be loved.  It is a choice to be at peace.

I am choosing peace though what my eyes see frightens me, though what my heart feels saddens me because He told me in John 14:27 that He left behind His peace for me…here on this earth.  His peace is perfect, as are all His gifts and with His peace, I don’t have to yield to fear or allow my heart to be troubled or anxious but instead I can be courageous…because I have a giant lion outside my window, protecting me as do you.