{"id":2832,"date":"2012-07-11T09:25:13","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T13:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2832"},"modified":"2012-07-11T09:25:13","modified_gmt":"2012-07-11T13:25:13","slug":"a-piece-of-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/07\/a-piece-of-peace.html","title":{"rendered":"A piece of peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There are things which disturb my peace. \u00a0Yesterday, I realized that circumstances were heading Special Gathering of Indian River into a potential obstacle\u00a0course. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure whether I was more upset by the situation or by the fact that I\u2019d not foreseen the concerns.<\/p>\n

Either way my peace was destroyed for several hours. \u00a0Seeing the problem, I immediately began making phone calls and the situation was handled within three hours. \u00a0But it was as though my peace had flown out the window. \u00a0My mind swam into some pretty swampy waters concerning the \u201cwhat if\u201d possibilities.<\/p>\n

Jesus plainly said, \u201cMy peace I give to you.\u201d \u00a0He didn\u2019t say, \u201cYou have my peace, as long as you don\u2019t see any deep ruts in the road ahead.\u201d \u00a0He never proclaimed, \u201cI give you my peace, unless someone you love does something really bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Of course, when trouble raises its grotesque head in the middle of your life\u2019s road, you must take care of the situation. \u00a0But should peace be burned away like the morning dew as the sun ushers onto the horizon?<\/p>\n

The past weeks, I\u2019ve listened to the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of Paul during the day, in the morning and at night before I go to bed. \u00a0What has struck me is the ordinary life Paul was living as the Holy Spirit was shaking up an entire civilization. \u00a0He never seems to lose his peace in the middle of ghastly upheaval. \u00a0He was beaten, jailed, the subject of riots, despised and rejected.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Yet, in his letters, we see that his main concern wasn\u2019t his own safety; but he wept over the well-being of the Church. \u00a0He wanted to protect the new believers who were struggling. \u00a0That is the kind of peace I want.<\/p>\n

For too long I\u2019ve been satisfied with a piece of peace. \u00a0I\u2019ve been willing to sluff off the concerns of my brothers and sisters in the Lord while obsessing over the well-being of me and mine. \u00a0I know that each of us walks a fine line regarding God\u2019s peace.<\/p>\n

Yet, I\u2019ve been impressed that a piece of God\u2019s peace isn\u2019t good enough. \u00a0I desire to know the Lord in such a way that I can claim his peace no matter what the situation or concern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are things which disturb my peace. \u00a0Yesterday, I realized that circumstances were heading Special Gathering of Indian River into a potential obstacle\u00a0course. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure whether I was more upset by the situation or by the fact that I\u2019d not foreseen the concerns. Either way my peace was destroyed for several hours. \u00a0Seeing the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,41],"tags":[690,21,688,7,699,715,701,694,19,689,6],"class_list":["post-2832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mental-retardation","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nA piece of peace - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/07\/a-piece-of-peace.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A piece of peace - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are things which disturb my peace. \u00a0Yesterday, I realized that circumstances were heading Special Gathering of Indian River into a potential obstacle\u00a0course. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure whether I was more upset by the situation or by the fact that I\u2019d not foreseen the concerns. Either way my peace was destroyed for several hours. \u00a0Seeing the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/07\/a-piece-of-peace.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-11T13:25:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/07\/bumpy-road.jpg?w=124&h=93\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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