“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives. Let not your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

My pastor wrote that perfected love is love inhaled from God and exhaled onto others; drawing me to the conclusion that perfect peace is the inhalation of God’s peaceful omniscience so that we live lives not of knowing all but of total trust. No more what-if’s; how would that feel??

I am reminded that there might be an occasional benefit from fear; an adrenaline response can save your life. But there is no benefit from worry. Worry steals our joy while getting us nowhere - it poses as responsible concern and continues to waste our precious time and hearts.

God keeps bringing a certain verse into my life; “God’s mercies are new every morning . . .” Lamentations 3:23. And as Alan Wright says (the guy who got me thinking through all of this); God gives grace for actual needs, not potential problems. God says in Hebrews that He will give us ” Grace to help in time of need.” Not when we’re imagining a problem or dreading a potential problem or considering the possibility of a problem. Can I wake each morning with the joy of a baby - fully rested, and that’s enough? Can I let God’s mercies sustain me each new day without worrying about what’s come before or what I imagine might be sure to come later?

I won’t bore you with my list of what-if’s. The fact is; the things which have brought me the greatest joy in my life have been the biggest risks. Marriage was a huge risk - and boy has it paid off. And each child is another risk of all of our hearts; choosing once more to let it walk around outside of our bodies. Living life is a constant risk - especially in some of the places and times God has called us to. Saying goodbye to those we love feels like more risk.

We experience God’s peace not by a greater understanding of what’s ahead but by a deeper sense of how little we know. Babies rest in peace because they have nothing to fear; they may wake with hunger but they won’t spend hours dreading it’s arrival. And this is true for us as well. Relaxing into a childlike realization of our finite understanding forces us to rest in the omniscient One. And the omniscient One says, ” fear not for I am with you.” God teaches that it is in our weakness that we become strong. In the same way it is in our lack of knowing that we know that which is most important - He’s got it ALL covered.