Peace, I Leave With You

It is lovely to experience the peace of God. I had such an awesome experience recently around the time of my birthday that ought to go down in history, as one of the times I have been happiest so far, in my journey of life. I can’t remember being as happy in my adult life. And although life has returned to normal now, I only need to remind myself of that time and I experience some measure of peace again. Such joy! To be able to remind ourselves of the promise of peace and the experience of peace and we live the peace all over again.

When Jesus said those words; ‘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), the disciples were particularly troubled. Unknown to them, Jesus had set in motion the final activities that would lead to His crucifixion. Aside from that, they were grappling with the fact that, according to Him, He would soon be leaving them. There was also talk of denial by Peter. The whole scene was unsettling to say the least. It must have been as a result of the disciples’ fear and troubled minds that He spoke these words of peace to them. ‘Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you’. What powerful words!

As children of God, we know that His words bring life. His words are spirit and life. So when God speaks, His words materialize into our reality immediately He has said them. Sometimes we see immediate results, sometimes the results manifest much later, but the words are life. They do not die and they do not return to Him void (without results).

I did not realise that I had peace around the time of my birthday, until like two days to the date and it just struck me! Come to think of it, I’m happy! I have peace! My circumstances had not changed, and there was nothing physically happening that would have brought joy to me, but I was joyful. And I’m not talking about the sense of excitement that people normally have when a celebration is approaching. That wouldn’t have applied to me. For much of my adult life, my birthdays have been full of pain and sorrow. It had always been a convergence of everything that was not working right in my life. The thoughts would start arriving from the first day of my birthday month, so that by the birthday date, I am totally depressed, unable to celebrate or rejoice, because by the time I reviewed all the reasons for sorrow, there would be no justifiable reason to rejoice! Mind you, all this went on inside me. On the outside, I was still your regular birthday girl, acknowledging birthday greetings, laughing, cutting birthday cakes etc. It was torture! I never looked forward to birthday celebrations.

This year was different. The first thing I noticed was that I had to remind myself that my birthday was approaching! I was so busy, it took all my willpower to remember to buy a cake and drinks in time for the day. I only realized a day before my birthday that I was not sorrowful like previous years! So, I took a deep breath and enjoyed it. Mind you, I still wasn’t looking forward with excitement, but I was at peace. I actually smiled to myself just thinking of the next day.

On D-Day, I still maintained my peace. In fact, I went as far as posting on social media that it was my birthday and I was thankful! Wow! That was certainly a first! And my peace lasted all day and the next. It was so sweet, I kept telling myself ‘Is this what other people enjoy? I must have this again. I want more of this.’

The type of peace that the world cannot give. The peace of God that passes all understanding. The peace that is emanating directly from the Prince of Peace! That is what I experienced. And was it sweet!

Why don’t you ask Him for your own share? His peace is available to everyone who asks. It is not the type of peace that the world gives. It is not artificial, temporary or fickle. It is solid peace. Peace that stays with you even in the midst of storms. Peace that insulates from the barrage of life. Perfect peace!