Protect Your Peace

 When we look around at our world today, we see a lot going on. At every turn, there seems to be drama, injustice, and a constant flow of information coming at us (some good, some not so good). Having peace around us may seem out of reach. However, we can have peace in us. We can have peace in our hearts 💖. Notice I said the word "in." We can't always control what goes on around us, but we can control what goes in us. Having peace should be a daily goal. It's a daily goal for me 😊!! When we look at the meaning of peace, we see it means rest, quiet, and stillness in our heart. Jesus spoke about peace in John 14:27 and John 16:33 in the Bible. In John 14:27, Jesus is telling his disciples that he will give them his peace and they don't have to be fearful. In John 16:33, Jesus is telling his disciples they would have suffering in the world, but they could have peace in Him because he has overcome the world. We definitely see suffering in our world, but in spite of it, we can have peace just like Jesus told his disciples. In this season of my life especially, I am learning the importance of my peace. I am learning the value of peace. At the beginning of this month of July, I had a myomectomy surgery to remove fibroids. I have talked about the journey with fibroids in previous blog posts. I praise God for getting through the surgery 👏! The weeks of recovery have been challenging at times, but I'm thankful for the progress also. These weeks have been teaching me the power of rest and stillness. That sounds like the definition of peace, right?! Now, I got up and moved around each day after the surgery. I moved around a little more each day as I had to be careful of the incisions (cuts) in my stomach. Side note: they are healing well 👏!! I'm still being careful, of course. Now, I'm one who does like to be up and doing things more, so it got challenging to stay still at times. In order to keep healing properly though, I had to rest and be still, along with no heavy lifting. I have eased back into routines now like walking (I love walks as you know and I missed them!) and going to the store again. In addition to valuing peace, I learned that it also needs to be protected. We protect something we value 💖. When we look at the meaning of protect, it means to cover or shield from exposure, injury, damage, or destruction. Whew! A mouthful right there! Our peace needs to be protected at all times 🙏. During my recovery, all kinds of thoughts were trying to come at me. It was in the moment of stillness that I had to allow the positive and God's Word to hold more weight than the negative. Believe me, the negative would try to outweigh a lot. I had to go to the emergency room a little over a week after my surgery as I was dealing with sharp stomach pains and nausea. That was one of the hardest days of my life!! Once again, God got me through and I had to keep praying and protect my peace. Everything was fine and my body was going through a lot of stretching and sensitivity. I'm glad it wasn't anything serious. Protecting my peace means I can't have contact with everything and everybody. There are certain conversations I can't engage in and certain social media posts and pages I will not engage in. We do need to stay informed about what's going on in the world as many decisions affect us. However, there should still be the goal to protect your peace within 💖. This season has taught me more than ever to show up when I need to, but also to step back when I need to. This season is teaching me to use my time and energy wisely in who and what I allow in my space. If I feel an uneasiness and a disturbance, it's a no. In the Bible, Psalms 90:12 says, "Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts." When we use wisdom, we're more careful with more peace. This season is teaching me to take care of me more 💖. That includes taking care of my heart. I absolutely love others, but I also have to keep loving me, which means protecting my peace. When we love ourselves, we won't be too quick to let anything disturb our peace. I want to leave you with this one last verse to meditate and think about in the days and weeks ahead: Colossians 3:15. Colossians 3:15 says, "And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful." What's ruling your heart today? Make sure it's peace and hold on to it tight 🙏. Keep taking care of you and your heart 💖. God bless!!