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. John 14:27
Simply reading those words allows my shoulders to relax. Allows me to take a deep breath in and back out.
This is one of my very favorite writings from Streams in the Desert. I wrote about this nine years ago, but this morning I need the reminder:
Two painters were once asked to paint a picture illustrating his own idea of rest. The first chose for his scene a quiet, lonely lake, nestled among mountains far away. The second, using swift, broad strokes on his canvas, painted a thundering waterfall. Beneath the falls grew a fragile birch tree, bending over the foam. On its branches, nearly wet with spray from the falls, sat a robin on its nest.
The first painting was simply a picture of stagnation and inactivity.
The second, however, depicted rest.Outwardly, Christ endured one of the most troubled lives ever lived. Storms and turmoil, turmoil and storms – wave after wave broke over him until His worn body was laid in the tomb. Yet His inner life was as smooth as a sea of glass, and a great calm was always there.
Anyone could have gone to Him at any time and found rest.
Rest is not some holy feeling that comes upon us in church. It is a state of calm rising from a heart deeply and firmly established in God.
(June 13, Streams in the Desert)
Rest. Peace. Available at any moment, at every moment, from Jesus.
Our Messiah.
Our Prince of Peace.
Heavenly Father, today I want to rest as that artist’s robin. Even as I’m drenched from the spray, the waterfall (which doesn’t stop – and who would want it to??), the fullness of this life, thank you that Jesus offers us peace. And by accepting His peace, any one of us, at any time, can find our hearts at rest.