#40 - Peace Like a River

Date Sent: Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 3:45 PM

It's now been more than five weeks since my last email. So much has happened in our lives - so much busyness, so much productivity, so much fun, but more importantly - so much growth! My last email ended with a request that you join me in praying for PEACE in the midst of some intense emotional turmoil. Well, God has been good - and it has been "given to [me]. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over! (Luke 6:38b) I have gotten slightly "worse" physically since then. I now think that I have a bit TOO LITTLE medicine, not a bit too much. But we'll see. One day at a time. God is giving me strength for today, and sending people alongside me to help when it's needed.

At Bible Study this morning, a girlfriend and I were discussing if it is necessary (or not) to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (which neither of us have so far), to experience true, deep, inexplicable peace. I (not that I claim to be an expert in this topic!) - I think not. When we first accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, the Holy Spirit comes in and resides in us. Over the past thirteen months I have had days/weeks/months of inexplicable peace despite the horrible circumstances. It has not been constant, but each time I prayed for peace - without fail God answered that prayer! Even though in my humanness I have had some rock bottom emotional times, God was waiting with his arms filled with peace ready to immerse me in it - as soon as I asked. Last month I was letting my thoughts run rampant like a run-away-train, but as soon as I prayed (and you joined me) for peace - it was there again.

Two songs have had special meaning to me lately. One is an old hymn - "It is well with my soul." Here's the first two verses:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows, like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.

This hymn was written by Horatio Spafford, after several traumatic events in his life, including the death of his only son in 1871, and the Great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially. In 1873 his wife and four daughters sailed across the Atlantic (he planned to join them later), and the ship sunk, killing all of his remaining children. His wife survived, and sent him the now famous telegram "Saved alone." Shortly afterward, he traveled to join his wife in Europe, and as his ship passed where his daughters drowned, he penned the lyrics on a napkin.

I've suffered nothing in comparison to so many people! If Horatio Spafford could experience that type of inexplicable peace while dealing with such deep, intense pain, then certainly God could - and will - make it available to me as well! He experienced "peace like a river" - not like a still pond, or a trickling stream. It was peace like a ROARING RIVER that had the power to move him from one point (maybe the point of pain, or despair, or sheer emotional exhaustion) to a different place (perhaps one of hope, contentment, or forgiveness). All he had to do was sit in the boat and stop rowing against the current, and God's peace would do all the work! We all have pain of some sort in our lives because there's sin in the world. But God - my God - is a loving, generous, forgiving God. James 4:2b says, "You do not have, because you do not ask God." Obviously this doesn't mean that God's just another Santa Claus - but all too often we live in defeat because we don't ask God for strength ... or peace!

In the second verse, to "buffet" means " to strike, as with the hand or fist; to strike against or push repeatedly; to contend against; battle." Satan's entire goal is to do battle with God Almighty - since it's obvious that God's gonna win that one, he settles (for the moment, at least), doing battle with God's children - us! Certainly the most sure way to get me angered is to hurt one of my children - this is Satan's tactic. All too often it works. I can understand when someone who hasn't experienced what Jesus has to offer, walks around and lives a life of defeat, unforgiveness, bitterness and even hopelessness. But, as a Christian, each of us have God's access to His forgiveness, love, peace, goodness, gentleness, etc! We just have to ask!

The second song, which I actually heard for the very first time last week, is "Finally Free" by Nichole Nordeman. I will let it speak for itself:

No chain is strong enough
No choice is wrong enough
No mountain high enough
That He cannot climb

No shadow dark enough
No night is black enough
No road is lost enough
That He can't find

And if the Son has set us free
Then we must be, free indeed
Let the chains fall away, starting today
Everything has changed
I'm finally free

No pain is deep enough
No heart could bleed enough
Nothing but Jesus' love
Can make a way

And if the Son has set us free
Then we must be, free indeed
Let the chains fall away, starting today
Everything has changed
I'm finally free


Peace be with you.
~ Julia