I sit with my mother on a hilltop bench, overlooking the river along miles of bluffs and trees. I look up into the night and breathe in the lighted star-cubes. Or I sense the spirit of peace in cottonwood fluff and breezes. At such times, peace is part of what God’s creative gifts offer me.
Then come moments of little peace—while attempting to quiet a classroom of yelling students. When I dislike the actions of a neighbor, or if I am in a hurry at the grocery checkout.
How is it, I wonder, that peace and stress-free living never occur for as long as I would like? Perhaps I need to open myself more to the power of peace available to me through Jesus—and to enter the mystery of peace by recalling sacred Scripture.
For me, lasting peace comes as a gift from God. I am ready to receive peace daily. But peace is also given to me in its completeness in an eternal realm. God provides me with a foretaste of this eternal peace right now—for example, when I am brave enough to open up about my faith and receive a pouring out of peace and acceptance from someone I barely know.
The pathway of peace is both partial and complete. In part, I walk it when I am frustrated and turn within to receive God’s gift. I prepare myself for the fullness of peace in God’s eternal reign, a not-yet experience for me. As I sit in my peace garden, I pray the mystery of God’s peace in my life, now and in eternity.
When the world offers us little peace, we can open ourselves to accept God’s gift.
Ask God to provide you with His peace as a gift, now and forever. Allow Him to become a part of your pathway of peace for a stress-filled and troubled world.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Jan Wiezorek studied at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, and writes from the forests, lakes, and gardens of southwestern Michigan.