A Peace of Winter

Today is officially the first day of Winter, yet here in our corner of the Southern hemisphere, Winter has arrived with a gentle breath and a mild touch and the sky is an almost baby blue.  Out here in the suburb a peaceful quiet has settled on the day.

Thinking about this word "peace", it reminds me about the scripture I read this morning - Judges 6.  It is in this piece that we find one of the Lord's many names - Jehovah Shalom, the Lord of Peace.  In the world we live in today, peace is a very scarce commodity.  We just have to read a newspaper, or switch on the radio or television to find that this statement is put quite mildly.  Many people talk about peace, statesmen make elaborate plans to try to achieve it, the oppressed pray for it, beauty queens promote it with carefully groomed smiles, yet it seems unattainable.  This void of peace is not something new, it is an ancient condition.  War and strife have been around for as long as the human race has been around, and our search for peace just as long.

Yet peace, despite its aloofness, is not so far out of our reach as we might believe.  It is within our reach, in fact, it is quite close by.  The peace I am talking about is not the magical version the world is constantly hoping for, where, with the signing of a piece of paper, the parties involved destroy their arms, hug each other and are now all buddy-buddy, no, the peace I am talking about is beyond this superficial and temporary solution.

It is the peace that can only be found in God, Jehovah Shalom.  He alone is the source of peace.  When we stand in a relationship with the Lord, we enter into his peace.  In his presence we find stillness, and tranquillity.  In Malachi 2:5 we find this verse:

 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace , whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee". 

 When we put our trust in the Lord, He quiets our minds and the turmoil we so often have within.  To have such peace is a blessing that fills us with a sence of wholeness and a feeling of security.  It is a peace that the world can simply not comprehend.  When we are filled with the peace of the Lord, we strive to live at peace with others, we are quick to forgive and we are governed by the Spirit of the Lord within us. We quietly await his directions.  However, many of us still miss out on this peace, because we find it difficult to trust the Lord wholeheartedly.  To put our trust completely in God, we need to relinquish control and that is what often scares us.  Why do we have this fear?  Often we fear something or someone because we are not familiar with it, we do not know the person or we are unsure about their bonafides.  The Lord, however, wants us to know Him, he wants to have a relationship with us.  He wants to fill our lives with his peace.  To obtain this peace it is necessary for us to let go and to allow God to be in control, to submit to Him all my fears and worries.

May this new season be filled with warmth and peace.