~ written by Connie Dunmyer
Life is full of choices: snooze button or get up; what to wear; caff or decaf; do I want fries with that . . . and those are the easy ones.
Isaiah 54:10 - “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Today as I read that – which I have read and heard a multitude of times – I think it’s the first time I really noticed “nor my covenant of peace BE REMOVED”.
It can be easy to remember God’s love is unfailing. He is God – He is Love – it’s what He does. It’s kind of a package-deal. But here He says His covenant of peace – His PROMISE of peace – His COMMITMENT of peace – will not be removed EVER!
I mean I just find that extraordinary.
So all these times when I’m not living in peace – when I’m all stirred up inside, when I’m worried, stressed and frantic – I mean, I knew the unrest wasn’t coming from God, but I still felt like I had no choice but to panic - to give into my feelings. But here God is telling me – He is PROMISING and COMMITTING to me that His Peace is never gone. It is NEVER taken away or removed. So if I am not experiencing His peace, why is that? Is God a liar? Or is it my choice? Perhaps I haven’t “picked up God's peace and used it”. I haven’t chosen wisely.
Nothing that happens to me can remove that peace. Circumstances and troubles cannot move it NOR remove it. The devil has ZERO SAY in this. God’s peace for me is IN me ALWAYS! I simply need to pick it up, hold it, cuddle up into it, or maybe even just look at it. I only need to identify as having that peace. It cannot be removed from my spirit. It is right there. It is here – even now. And yet – how often do I “shove it” out of sight?
Instead, I pick up the struggle, the fear, the affliction, the pain – and play with it. I pet it. I feed it. As though if I treated it well enough, it would be nice to me. All the while, the answer to my worried heart & mind is God’s Promised Peace – the very thing I shoved out of my sight.
Perhaps I only need to set down my worry – to stop feeding it or playing around with it – and instead pick up the Peace He has provided. I can look upon its face instead. I can “pet it”, “play with it”, “call out to it”. I can “feed it” by feeding myself on the Bread of Life – the Word of God – His Promise!
But even in that – it’s not me feeding it. I am not “responsible” for His Peace. God is. And because it’s not dependent upon fickle ol’ me, because it is eternal, it is continual and cannot be removed. It is the Spirit Himself. And He never leaves. And never forsakes [abandon or renounce]. It will not die. I need only look at it. Pick it up. Enjoy it. Hold it. Call upon it.
Peace is a Choice. It is a gift. We did not earn it. We cannot conjure it up. We cannot create it. As Believers, peace is in our possession already. We need only choose - to choose wisely!