Thanks to Tammy for this awesome reminder on where real peace comes from...despite the externals of our life!
"PEACE. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart."
Peace has definitely been one of my most sought after attributes in this life journey. When one lives in their body long enough and their body has decided it quite "enjoys" anxiety and the havoc it can wreak on a body, it becomes a life goal to find peace, calmness and tranquility. I am constantly at odds with the fact that I can not get my insides to cooperate with my mind which knows that worrying is a futile exercise and results in nothing accomplished. But somehow, our insides have a life of their own and you can not fool them into an artificial calmness as well as you can fool others that you are inwardly as calm as you appear on the outside.
Often I am envious of my husband and his single minded focus. In fact I read the most intriguing article that explains how genetically different men and womens' brains are wired. It is not just in our imagination that women have an innate ability to multi-task while our counterparts are not quite so inclined. Men actually have very few connectors between their left and right sides of the brain and generally use one area of the brain at a time when accomplishing any variety of tasks. Women on the other hand have massive amounts of connectors between both sides of the brain and are constantly using multiple parts of the brain at one time when accomplishing any sort of task.
I did have a revelation that made me resolve to be thankful for the differences that we have been blessed with as men and women. It was probably this single minded focus that helped enable Jesus to walk the path He did to the cross. Being single minded in His obedience to His Father and the awful things that He already knew were coming. Never looking to one distraction or another He walked to His own death on our behalf. Thank God!!
What does any of this have to do with peace, you ask? I have come to realize that true inner peace is plain and simple a gift of mercy from God. Our job? Keep laying each and every issue that threatens to cloud our day at the feet of our Heavenly Father. Keep looking to God for guidance through each and every decision we make in the day, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to us. And in those most trying of times, when life seems to be threatening to overwhelm us we suddenly find ourselves been carried away on a wave of peace that defies the outside situation of our life. It's also our part to acknowledge that we could have never conjured up that sort of peace on our own. That it is a true gift of the Holy Spirit to feel calm in our inner spirit when life tumbles all around us. That feeling of true peace is worth giving up everything for! Tammy
