This morning I was looking into the author of the book, Banhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.  His name is Eric Metaxas and I found this amazing video of his testimony.  It’s only 3:19 minutes long and is well worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2p2EhwbVyg

Eric talks about a dream that God gave him and how that dream led him to believe in Jesus.  The main point that he wanted to make in publishing his testimony is that God speaks to each one of us in a way that only we can understand and relate to.  That has huge meaning to each one of us because that means that this enormous God, the God of every man, woman and child who has ever lived, knows each one of us individually, completely and intimately.  He knows what we like and don’t like.  He knows how we think, and He’s not disturbed by it.  He wants to help us to change the way we think (and act) and in order to do so, He is willing to relate to us in a way that we will understand Him, in the deepest language of our heart and soul.  He knows what will touch us.  He loves each one of us uniquely.

I have to tell a story about my life here as well.  I was studying in another country during my junior year abroad in college.  One morning I was sitting on a bench in the hallway at the university before class.  As a teenager, I was a shy person and had a lot of self pity, but I was feeling lonely on that day being so far from home.  Down the hallway, there were some girls that were arriving for class.  They had all traveled to that country as a group from a university in Florida, whereas I just went there by myself.  That morning, they were all greeting each other and smiling and chatting.  In my mind I was envying them and yet at the same time thinking I was better than them.  At that very moment, a very loud voice in my head said to me, “If you want to have friends, you have to smile!”  I looked around wondering if anyone else had heard that as well since it was so loud, but no one flinched or moved a muscle.  It truly shook me.  I couldn’t deny what I heard or what He had said.  How could anyone know me so completely and know exactly what I had been thinking and feeling?!  The voice did not speak to me angrily in spite of my envy and arrogance, but it was just very matter of fact and completely accurate.  The accuracy absolutely blew me away, but it also caused me to see myself the way others might see me.  Who wants to start up a chat with someone who always has such a sad face?  A revelation about my attitude and behavior was born.  Slowly but surely, that voice changed my life.  I had just met God my Savior.  He saved me from myself, brought me up out of a deep pit and set me up on His mountaintop.

Our Father is such a loving and kind father to each one of us.  He only wants us to search for Him and find Him.  The instant we do, He pours out His love and leads us ever close to Him, not at all as He leads others, but in a way that is unique to us, so that each one of us can know Him and come to love Him.  It is not always an easy path.  Nowadays when I sometimes find myself slipping back into a moment of self pity, in His kindness, He brings me out of it and reminds me of His infinite love.  He shows me that He can only allow something to happen if it will somehow help me, even if it’s just in some small way, to know Him better.  I grew up thinking that He was a very angry God.  He may sometimes have to speak difficult truths to us, but there is no anger in Him ever.  

He does that for each and every one of us.  Every day.  He is just amazing.  The best.  The only.  Our one true constantly loving Father.

Jeremish 31:3  The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.

Because I do not yet have grandchildren, I love to spend a little time with my grand nieces and nephew.  Taking them to their bus on Friday mornings is a great way to see them each week.  They go to two different magnet schools that are about a twenty minute drive away from our town (if traffic is good).  Last Friday, I did not have time to read a Scripture before leaving my house at 6:50 to get them to the bus stop on time, so my husband read one to me.  “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.”  One of my favorite ones!  Okay, Lord!  Yes! 

Several minutes later, after picking them up, we headed towards the high school parking lot where the busses would take them to their schools.  On the way up a hill, a large flatbed truck pulled up and began to back into a building with a very small door for such a large truck, blocking the road in both directions.  He backed up and pulled forward, backed up and pulled forward again.  On and on it went.  A worker in a yellow vest was making sure that all traffic was stopped.  Very quickly, I lost my cool.  I opened the window.  “I have to get these children to the bus stop!  They can’t be late for their bus!”  I knew that if they were late for their bus, I was in for a long drive and a big inconvenience to my busy day.  Inside, I was frantic.  Help!  Such a roadblock was not in my plans.  One driver somewhere in line behind me pulled around me and zoomed past both the traffic guy and the truck.  In order to do so, he even had to drive over the sidewalk.  He was clearly angry.  I tried to calm down and told the children that we would pray, but actually, I had already lost it.  In the end, after what seemed like an eternity, the truck finally pulled to the side of the road and let us go by.  Shortly afterwards, we arrived at the parking lot and …. the bus was late.

After the children got on their busses, I had plenty of time to reflect about my attitude and actions.  Wow, it had not taken me long at all to throw everything out the window and basically freak out.  God was clearly showing me something that I need to work on.  It’s really true that I hate to be late, but keeping my mind stayed on God means that I trust Him whether it turns out positive or negative.  If I have to drive them to their schools, isn’t God big enough to arrange my day so that it works out?  There have been other times when I was somehow able to keep my mind on him and, as a result, felt that rare kind of peace that passes understanding.  That special variety of peace doesn’t make sense to our natural minds because it is in such complete opposition to the situation in which we find ourselves.  We cannot find that kind of peace in difficult circumstances on our own unless we truly are connected to Him.

When we dedicate our day to the Lord and tell Him that we love him, we can’t know ahead of time if a big truck (or some other obstacle) is going to interfere with our plans during that day, but we CAN pray for patience, wisdom and insight into what is happening to us.  We can make an effort to recognize the kinds of situations that give us the most trouble.  We can learn to count to ten, recite a Scripture, or do whatever it takes to maintain our calm and keep our mind on Him.  That’s how we know that we trust in Him.  We can make that connection with Him each morning and strive to maintain it so that He’s with us throughout the day.   That’s where such peace comes from – Him.

There really is a peace that passes understanding.  It doesn’t make sense to our natural mind because of the crazy situation that we may be in.  It’s a peace that comes from God our Father.  It’s His peace, and He will give it to us if we show that, no matter what the outcome of the situation, we trust in Him.

Isaiah 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.