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Respite For the Weary
A long time ago when I was in college, I had a baby blue comforter that covered my twin bed in my dorm room. In my opinion, this down comforter was the best bedspread ever! I loved it so much that I kept it for years. It moved with me from my dorm room to my first apartment, to my first home with my new husband, and then to our next home together with our four children! I remember wrapping my little ones up in it, holding them close, embracing them with all the love I had in me.
This is why this second gift in my children's book Christmas Morning is so sweet to me. The little girl in the story delightfully unwraps a bright blue package with a shiny white bow and finds... a soft blue blanket. And as I mentioned in my previous post , each of the seven tangible gifts in the story are meant to represent different intangible realities that we have been freely given in Christ.
The blue blanket is: the blanket of peace.
Have you ever been given news that stops you in your tracks? Your world is turned upside down and you're not sure how to cope? In this place, and in the moments, minutes, months, and years following, God wants to wrap you in his peace. The way I held my little ones in the soft blue comforter is the way that your heavenly Father wants to hold you, now and always.
Allow God's word to speak into this truth. Read these verses slowly; unwrap his gift:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you. Isaiah 26:3
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:13-14
Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
For he himself is our peace... Ephesians 2:14
Unlike my down comforter that finally fell apart (feathers everywhere) after a decade of good use, God's "blanket of peace," will never wear thin. It's eternal, but it's meant for today. It's other-worldly, but it's meant to help us in this world.
Envision yourself wrapped up in God's strong, caring arms. In this safe place, pour out your heart. Weep. Be held. Be loved.
For there is no real rest for the soul, except for the indwelling presence of God's perfect peace.
Jesus said, "The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." John 10: 3-4
Dear Lord,
Your living word IS your active voice in our lives! May we read it the quietness so that we recognize your whisper in the busyness. May we first listen, and then follow your wise and caring direction each and every day. In Jesus' Name, Amen.