Sunshine In The Peace

“I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in Him. Then your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

I enjoyed the days of sunshine this past week. One afternoon, I sat on my front porch in the sun and listened to the birds singing their songs of joy. The blue sky and warmth of the sun gave me hope for Spring and warmer days ahead. I trust these signs of creation because each year my hope becomes reality. Yes, there will be cooler days and three more snows after the forsythia blooms, but I have hope.

The moments in the sunshine as I looked up into the sky gave a calm peace inside of me. When you look up, you see only what God created. All the tasks and responsibilities are in the background. You breathe deeply and release the world pressures for a few moments. You feel peaceful. This reveals how much the things of this world take away our peace and control us. We need to take these breaks and breathe in God’s creation.

Yes, we have responsibilities and daily tasks that need to be accomplished. That is the fact of life, but life is also peace and joy. We seem to forget that peace and contentment are natural parts of living, too. The things of this world seem to overshadow this inner peace. Life is far from perfect. It will always have struggles, pain, sadness, loss, hurt, heartache, and the lists are endless. When our focus is on all these obstacles and hurts, we live in anxiety, fear, being overwhelmed, and stressed. We assume this is just what life will always be like, and it is what life has dealt us. Life also has peace, joy, love, kindness, goodness, and more.

I am not trying to minimize your pain and struggle. It is real and it is there, but how do you change your focus to the good that is within you? You are more than your disease, your grief, your trauma. God created you with hope. A hope that cannot be defined by your circumstances.

Hope sometimes is difficult to see in the times of darkness in life, but that is where trust in God comes into the situation. It is praying, “Lord, all I see is darkness, but I trust You in the dark. You are the God of hope. Help me see your light and allow your Spirit to enter my heart with Your peace. Amen.”

As I sit in the driveway in the sunshine writing these words, I hear the wind and feel the warm breeze. I look up and see the blue sky and bright sunshine and in these moments God’s peace and joy fill me. I trust God’s Spirit will speak within my heart and give me the words to write that will bring hope to you, my friend. When I close my eyes and allow God’s creation to fill me, I have peace and contentment. I have slowed down and not allowed the world’s view to cloud God’s view of my life. I trust God because God has been with me in the past and continues to be with me. God gives to me a hope of a hope when it seems impossible.

Nature teaches us rest and renewal through the changing seasons. Rest is self-care. It is allowing the sun and the breeze to absorb within us, and it changes our perspective that life is not meant to be always busy and outwardly productive. God is more interested in our inner spirit than our outward accomplishments. When the Holy Spirit is within us, God’s goal is to put our spirit in a restful place. The Spirit of God gives to us inner peace and contentment as we rest in Him. Yes, peace and joy and hope are a natural part of life.

The world is loud, but God whispers to your spirit. Do not focus on the expectations and hurts of life. They will always desire to control you if you let them. Trust that God has got the world and you, even when it does not feel like it. When the wind blows in the fears and worries, trust the hope that the Holy Spirit’s power will blow through you and give you peace to walk you through whatever situation you are currently going through. This peace assures you that you are never alone. There is peace in the sunshine. It is always in your heart even when darkness is all around you. Uncover it from what the world has tried to dump on you.

Live in the sunshine of peace.

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