PEACE

 

Peace

liz etheridge

 

(Originally written on ......)

"Promise you'll come and sit with me one afternoon---"

I received those words from my friend a few years ago.....a new widow. While I was battling fires in my own household, she was saying goodbye to her husband of many years and feeling anything but peaceful.....

"He was in ICU that week right after Christmas--with me praying for pneumonia! Have you ever heard of such a weird prayer?" she wrote.

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

 (Romans 5:1).

I've never understood why every time I hear the word "Peace", I think of death. I long for that day when God and I are walking along that River of Life.....chatting like the old friends we are....and I can actually feel His skin on my hand....I can touch the scars. I always cry when I close my eyes and think of that picture in my head...it's the picture of Peace.

"Please Lord, don't let it be small-cell." I stopped and thought--whoever in this world prays for cancer of any kind -- and then my next prayer was, "Please Lord, just let this be over!" My final prayer was for the funeral, "Let me make it through this day."

I could actually hear these words coming from her mouth as I read them...I could feel the pain deep in her soul....and my heart felt her distress. Peace and Hope were waffling at her door and threatening to leave the room....."We rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us..." (Romans 5:3-5).

"I'm flunking widowhood, Liz" she said.

And we know that Hope is the highway that gets our faith from point A to point B. It's what keeps us moving through whatever circumstances life throws at us. It's the secret sauce in our soul. He just wants us to wrap ourselves around Him, be silent and still, and go where He takes us.

No Jesus.....No Peace

Know Jesus......Know Peace

Peace Out