Peace Be Still

With everything going on in our lives and in the world around us, it seems like it's hard to find peace. While it may seem impossible to have peace at a time such as this, it can happen. We can have peace regardless of what we see and how we feel. Even with the pandemic going on in our world, we can still have peace in the pandemic. Real peace comes from God and it's available all day, every day. Peace is knowing that everything is going to be alright. Peace is staying calm even when chaos is breaking out around you. Peace may seem far away, but it's closer than you think. Peace is possible and can be yours. Let's take a look at Mark 4:35-41 where we see peace in action. In these particular verses, Jesus and his disciples were riding on a boat one evening. While they were riding, a storm came up. The wind started blowing hard and the water was starting to get in the boat. You know when a storm comes on the water, the waves start to get higher. The disciples began to panic as the conditions were getting worse (can anybody relate?!). This storm was getting serious! But guess what Jesus was doing during the storm?! He was taking a nap! He was sleeping away! In other words, Jesus was resting while the storm was going on. In the meantime, the disciples are panicked and worried and thinking about what's going to happen next (sounding familiar yet?!). So they go and wake Jesus up. They're like don't you see and hear the storm and we could die. After Jesus wakes up, the first thing Jesus does is stand up and says three words, "Peace, be still!" (v.39). Immediately after those words were spoken, the storm stops just like that. The winds stopped and there was a great calm. Then Jesus wanted to know from his disciples why were so scared and where their faith was at. The disciples were just so amazed at how quick the storm stopped at Jesus' command. Only 3 words. Peace be still. During the storms of life, Jesus wants us to have peace too. Will the storms always stop immediately in our lives? No. Will the storms always immediately stop in the world around us? No as we see that going on with the pandemic. However, we can know Jesus is right there with us just as He was with his disciples in the boat that stormy evening. We can have rest in our minds and heart. We can rest at night. That night, Jesus and his disciples did reach the other side (Mark 5:1). They reached their destination. No matter how rocky and windy and stormy it gets, we will reach the other side. I know the Coronavirus looks bad right now, but we will get to the other side of this. I know some of us know loved ones and friends and others connected to us that have been affected by the virus, but we will get to the other side of this. We may get tossed, feel scared and even overwhelmed, but we'll get there. I know the news reports don't always look good, but we'll get there. We can have God's peace. To have God's peace, we must first have a relationship with God. He is our Peace in the midst of the storm. We must pray and ask for His peace daily. We must embrace it and thank Him for it. We must pray and study His Word daily. So when the storms come, we can speak and declare peace over our minds, hearts and situations. We can declare peace over our family members and friends and everyone else connected to us. We can declare peace over our world. Here are some Scriptures that you can read daily and start speaking and getting in your heart and mind about peace: John 14:27, John 16:33, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:7, Romans 12:18 and Psalm 29:11. You can write them down and post them somewhere you can see them. When our thoughts and opinions or others opinions try to drown out the Word of God in our lives, we can speak peace and what the Word says. We can be the one who speaks peace when we walk into an atmosphere full of chaos. We can be the one who encourages others that we can still have peace even in these uncertain times we're living in. We can encourage others to be peaceful and not feed into negativity. We can be calm regardless of what's going on. Yes, we can still rest. Yes, we can still keep a smile on our face. Yes, we can still hold our head up high. We can have peace at all times and in all things. We can speak, "Peace, be still!" 

The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalm 29:11