Peace.

I have had a really hard time keeping my peace. I can easily get frustrated, and a lot of times I find myself on the brink of tears when I'm overwhelmed. So tonight when my Music Theory seemed to be in another language, and thoughts of everything else that I needed to do came flooding into my mind, I easily fell apart.
I was just reading John 14:27, and in it Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid." As I was reading this verse only three minutes ago, I couldn't help but think of what a speaker I heard at a seminar say. She said, "Our inside world is like turbulent water, but when we spend time with God, it is calmed"
Remember when all of Jesus' disciples were in the boat crossing the water, and they got caught in a storm, with waves violently crashing over the boat? And through the whole time Jesus was sleeping, yet only to be woken up by his disciples asking Him if He cared whether or not they drowned. Jesus then wakes up, tells the wind to be quiet and still, and the storm seems to end in the blink of an eye. "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?", Jesus asks his disciples.


So its Wednesday night, my homework is taking much longer then I expected, and I have no idea whats going on in some of my classes. I think ahead to a busy Thursday and Friday filled with tests I'm uncertain about, and a weekend that leaves little time for rest. I don't really feel well, and I'm already thinking about trying to get out of school, even though I'm not that sick. It is in these moments that I easily brush aside the soft whisper, telling me not let my heart be troubled, and to not be afraid.
"Lizzy, peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid."

So may the peace of our Father calm the storms in your heart on this day.

satisfaction

The other day, my step dad Peter's friend came over for dinner. Let's call him Bob. Well, Bob got fired from his job a while ago, and according to what he said the other day, it was the best thing that has ever happened to him. You see, Bob has a new found love for writing songs, and is even writing a book with hopes of having it published in a year. He has dreams of making it big, and is planning on winning every award possible.
These great tasks at hand have consumed him. He works about 18 hours a day, and barely sleeps. He rarely gets out of the house, and has turned down many invitations to spend time with friends and family. When we had Bob over for dinner, the conversation was constantly within the bounds of his latest song, and if we trailed away, we would always seem to end up right back at his latest song, or his many themes in his latest book.
He is consumed, and towards the end of the night, I heard him say that he just wanted satisfaction from this all.
Satisfaction. I don't blame him, I want satisfaction as well. And as my desire to be satisfied, to feel worth, to feel whole, to feel loved increases, I can easily get consumed in whatever temporarily fills those desires.
What eventually happens is that we start getting consumed. Consumed with this or that, consumed with finding worth in grades, looks, ACT scores, our brands of clothing. We get consumed with anything; anything that makes us feel like we are significant.
Jesus did not die on the cross so that we would have to run around all over the place looking for people or things to find our identity in; to be consumed in fleeting things that will leave us left in the dust. We were created to find a lasting peace and rest in Him. And when we are searching high and low for something, anything to satisfy us, Jesus is standing there, wanting and deeply longing to abundantly fill those desires. My eyes are slowly being opened to the beauty of grace.