There is a peace that Christ bestows on us

Much of the peace I seek is negotiated with circumstances.

I will relax when the answer arrives. I will feel safe when the appointment is over. I will be at peace when everyone I love is doing well.

That kind of peace can be real, but it is fragile. It lasts only as long as the conditions remain cooperative.

I remember sitting in a waiting room while someone I loved had a procedure. I had brought things to occupy myself, but every few minutes I checked the time.

I could not create certainty. I could not speed up the process.

Eventually I stopped demanding that peace tell me how the procedure would end.

I placed both feet on the floor and allowed one breath to be enough for one moment.

The peace that came did not predict the future. It reminded me that neither of us had left the care of God while I waited.

Christ’s peace is different from relief. Relief says the feared thing did not happen. Peace says love is present before the outcome is known.

Today I want to notice the condition I have placed on being at peace.

I may still hope, prepare, ask questions, and seek help.

Peace does not make those actions unnecessary.

It changes the ground from which I take them.

What Christ bestows does not depend on the world agreeing to be predictable.

It meets me inside uncertainty and quietly removes uncertainty’s authority to separate me from Love.