Lord, Please Give Me PEACE about this PEACE Sign

While being my kids' dogs' sitter, I've enjoyed the inspirations at their home for my blogs. After I blogged a few days ago about the peace-sign hand on my daughter's wall where she does her video shows, of all things, when going to look at one of the books under it, I knocked the hand off the shelf and it broke into all these pieces shown here. I was dismayed, especially because it was purposed for that spot. I found a tag under the bottom piece, tried to order it from that store, but all their stores were sold out. When I couldn't subtlety get a replacement, I called and confessed to my daughter. In her encouragement-mode, she said, “Mom, don’t let that broken peace sign steal your PEACE. Don’t worry about it!” I tried to keep my peace. After all, my blogs carry a common theme -- living in peace.

I would not be denied. I tried the internet and found the exact peace sign figurine on Amazon and ordered it. It came the next day, but to my chagrin, it was in an envelope instead of wrapped in a box -- broken into pieces (seen in this photo)! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I sent the photo to Staci. She replied: “Devil can’t break my PEACE!” And, he won’t break my PEACE either. I reordered it again and my intention with this blog was to show it -- all tightly back in place!

Oh, but not so! The second one came to me the next day – same packaging – and broken. I talked to a kind young man at Amazon support who assured me via his personal email to me: “I sent over your feed back to the company you purchased the item from to make sure your item arrives in perfect condition.” I keep reminding myself “Him I will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Me” (Isaiah 26:3). I knew the PEACE sign would get here, tomorrow, and this time – the day I leave for Austin to take care of my two youngest grands for a few days. Dogs-sitting to boys-sitting!

Thursday, September 3rd: Doorbell rings. Buddy, the 85-pound Australian Shepherd is barking like a wild, man-eating machine. I peek through the blinds. Oh, it’s the Amazon guy with my package, but OH NO! It’s packaged the same. I quickly open the door to nab the delivery guy before he leaves the package and Buddy rushes past me and nabs the guy for me – on the leg! Dear God! Help! The guy gets out through the gate as I am pleading for his forgiveness. I ask to see his leg and thank, God – only scratched. That was my fault – Buddy is a great guard dog, but his protection isn’t needed when it’s a friendly visitor. We typically put him in another room when a stranger comes to the door! But, here’s the absolute determining factor that satan has zeroed in on my peace zone – to steal it from me. The PEACE hand in the same packaging, is also broken. And, poor Buddy, with his ears back is in time-out!

I pour my heart out to Staci about this inability to maintain my peace. What is wrong with me? I say it again – my President is running an entire country and has so many reasons to REALLY be stressed-out – and here I am in this little Peace Zone space – losing it. Staci says “Mom, let it go! Let the peace come. Maybe this is all for good. I have let it go. Maybe someone might be watching one of my shows and see that peace hand and for some reason it offends them.” She gives me so much reinforcement that I need this day. So I do let it go! Lord, have mercy! I have conquered way more stressful situations than this. I get it. The enemy's goal is to steal our peace that comes from our Prince of Peace.

So, here I am crawling, limping, and wimping back into my Peace Zone. I’m getting bandaged up, wiped up, and straightened up to be God’s girl of peace, sweet peace again. Why shouldn’t I be in peace? God promised it to me if I would live in that place. It’s a choice I must make daily. In John 14:27, Jesus said, “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.” I shall go forward — embracing these sweet days with these doggies and onto my people in Austin. I’m choosing to be care-free and unafraid and daily living in my peace zone! I’m sending that peace out to you today – AND NOT, with that very breakable peace hand sign!

My Safety Deposit Box is Secure

For years, my husband and I had many important documents in a safety deposit box at our bank. Ours held only documents, but my dear friend had some very precious, rare, expensive jewelry in hers. I wondered "Why have those items if they can't be worn or used?" But to both of us, we didn't want to risk our items being stolen, broken, or burned up, so we took them to the bank and entrusted it all to the protection of a safety deposit box.

The key word is ENTRUSTED. We entrust our home's protection to a security system. We entrust the care of our children to a day care or school system. Even more than a bank lock box, our home's security system or our children in someone else’s care, whatever we entrust to God, we can be assured that He is going to take care of it. We can count on it. He has a perfect track record. Other people and systems may not have a consistent track record of taking care of things for us. But whatever we entrust to God, we can be assured “It’s done and done!” A long time ago when we were young, inexperienced and green in just about every area of life, we entrusted all we had to God – and that included what concerned us – from the huge pressures to the daily details of making ends meet.

Maybe today there are worries, concerns, family, children, husband, wife, and every situation that is on our minds today that need to be entrusted to God. All of it – from the least to the greatest – needs to be entrusted to the safety deposit box of God’s love.

Worry is, in a way, like atheism. We act like spiritual orphans who don’t have a Father in Heaven Who loves us and Who can be trusted. Worry is unbelief. It’s saying we don’t believe the thousands of promises God made in His Word. The most difficult time for us to put our "stuff" in God’s safety deposit box is when we’re in pain. When we are suffering, we don’t want to trust even God. We want to pull it back and hold it to ourselves. St. Paul knew this, but he also knew that when we’re in pain, that’s when we need to trust God the most: “I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have ENTRUSTED to Him until the day of His return.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

Maybe, like me, you need to take all those concerns and worries today – let them go, give them – ENTRUST them to God’s safety deposit box. That's when we have been convinced God is alive and well and He can be TRUSTED to work ALL THINGS for our good in due season.