Giver of Peace
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27 NIV)
"My peace I give you."
"My."
This is such an important piece of peace, because it spotlights a truth about all God's good and perfect gifts: they come "down" from Him, the Father of the heavenly lights (James 1:8).
God's gifts are not something we can drum up in ourselves. They are not something we can get for ourselves. We cannot create them; we can only receive them. So if I want peace—and I do—I'm going to have to get it from the Giver of peace.
God faithfully gifts us with peace. But sometimes (okay, lots of times), I'm too distracted to notice it. Which is where a thanksgiving/peace tie-in comes in.
In a nutshell: it's easier to get peace when we're giving thanks. I'm more likely to feel peaceful when I'm being thankful.
I was doing some research recently (I promise: this relates to the topic at hand) on Restless Legs Syndrome, and one of the zillions of suggestions for alleviating the maddening sensation of needing to MOVE MY LEGS RIGHT NOW was to use a muscle-relaxer "roller ball" on the legs. RLS doesn't actually relate to tense muscles, but the article I was reading pointed out that, however much we might try to multi-task in daily life, our brains really can only pay full attention to one stimulus at a time. So if I'm having an RLS episode and that's all my brain has to pay attention to, it's going to make sure I know about it. But if I distract it with another sensation—like that roller ball—it can, literally, take my mind off the RLS symptoms.
When I'm uneasy or agitated—both of which feel like the opposite of peace—it's usually because my brain is paying full attention to some information (true or not) that's upsetting me and stealing my peace. But if I wrest my mind away from that subject and set it on what I'm thankful for, my mind is going to pay attention to those gifts and blessings...which is a lot more conducive to peace.
God is not only a reciprocal God: so much of what He gives us is a one-way street because of His generous grace and faithfulness. But the beauty of relationship with Him is that it produces circular giving and taking. He gives us a blessing, and we return it as praise. He gives us beauty, and we return it as worship. He gives us provision, and we return it as offering.
God is the initiator of every good thing, but in the thankfulness/peace equation, we have our own chance to start a good cycle: we give thanks, we get peace. Of course, this cycle, too, started with God, because we give thanks for what we've already been given, and then, in true God fashion, He gives us yet another gift.
His gift. Our thanks. His peace.
May we get stuck in this cycle, and may we never get out it.
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!