Pursuing Peace - Abbi Sauceda
There are times in life when it may feel like you have so much going on right now and you feel overwhelmed by what’s going on in your life, you have classes, work, things to do at home that it can feel like an endless list of things taking up your time. Before you know it, you can become stuck in a rut and feel “drowned” in all the worries and tasks fighting for your attention. Worrying does not help the situation one little bit, all we do is add stress where God wants to take it and carry that load for you. John 14:27 says “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” He doesn’t want us to carry around our sorrow and cares, he wants to lift that burden from us! No matter what we are going through whether it’s a season of waiting, the loss of a family member, or an illness we can always pursue God’s peace.1. He is our Comforter. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” John 14:16 God give us comfort when we need it. He strengthens us in our time of need.2. Remember that peace comes from letting God lead. “And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” Micah 5:4 When we have God on our side, we have peace and security in Him. We can let God lead our lives and have peace when we follow Him.3. His peace is a perfect, lasting peace. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3 God does not promise to make our problems instantly disappear, but He does promise to give us peace in the midst of them. At the age of 8 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor; it was not news we were expecting to hear. My mom thought it was a virus, I never imagined something like that could happen to me. I remember the shock I felt when the doctors told me and then it was a whirlwind of scans, tests and hospital stays for the next few months. I felt like I was watching it from the outside in, I didn’t feel like it was real. It was a hard thing to comprehend how that could happen…I remember praying and asking God for strength, I remember being scared because I didn’t know what would happen. I tried to not let it show for the sake of my parents just as they tried not to cry in front of me for my sake. Through it all I used Psalms 56:3 “What time I am afraid I will trust in thee.”God got me through three brain surgeries and over 24 hours of surgery. He held me in the palm of His hand through it all. The doctor said it was a miracle, they had told my parents I probably wouldn’t live through my first surgery. They said if I did I probably would not be able to see or walk but God was so good to me and He gave me peace through that trial.Trust in God’s timing and He will see you through. We serve a mighty God who can take care of all our needs!!