A Peace that surpasses ALL understanding

My reasons for being the best ME I can be!

Philippians 4:6-7
⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (NIV)


This is one of those verses that, until recently, just kind of sounded nice to me.  I've heard it thousands of times, and it always makes me smile and do the "Christian" head nod.  "Yup, that's right.  Pray about it and have peace about it.  Got it."  I had a personal epiphany about this verse this past week.  I am in no way suggesting that you see it the same way I do, but I am sharing my experience with you.  


Let me give you a little background.  When I was working downtown for the City of Jacksonville over a decade ago, I tried riding the bus for awhile.  It was over $40 per month to park, and then I had to take a trolley from my parking area to my office.  Well, for significantly less than that, I could take a bus which picked me up just a couple of blocks from my house and dropped me off right in front of my office.  It was 75 cents a ride.  One evening I was about to leave work, and I realized I had a $20 bill and 50 cents.  I was the last one there, so there was no one around to ask for change.  No other businesses were open.  I was walking to my bus stop, livid that I was about to spend $20 on a stinking bus ride since the drivers don't give change.  Well, I got this crazy yet peaceful feeling in my gut. Something just told me that everything was going to be fine.  When I got to my bus stop and looked down at the bench where I was about to sit, there was a very shiny quarter.  I would have sat right on it if I hadn't looked before I sat down.


I think God told me something that day. I think he made that miracle so obvious to me that I could not mistake that feeling of peace.  AND it made it to where I easily recognize that feeling now.  It feels like a combination of butterflies in my stomach, overwhelming love, and just plain peace.  How do I explain feeling "peace"?  But it is a definite feeling, and when I get that feeling I know something awesome is going to happen.


So my personal epiphany started happening in the last couple of weeks.  It wasn't like one particular "AHA!" moment, but more like a process which I came to sort of understand and couple with the verse in Philippians in just the last week.  


The peace God gives me surpasses my understanding, but I know what it is when I feel it.  I am learning to stop worrying about things like money, because I get this peaceful feeling, and I know the money to pay our bills and buy our gas and groceries and even to have a little fun is going to be covered.  I know my kids are going to be healthy.  I know things are going to work out for VBS and Wednesday night dinners.  Of course I'm not saying I don't worry.  But part of my epiphany is learning that when I do worry, I need to take that straight to God.  Turn my worry into a prayer immediately instead of lingering on it.  


The biggest part of my epiphany, however, is learning that my instincts aren't really mine at all.  They're God speaking to me, also.  From really seemingly stupid little things to fairly big things, my instincts are really God giving me the answers to decisions I need to make.  For example, last week I was going to make that french toast bake recipe that I posted awhile ago.  I needed apples to make it, but something told me not to run out and buy apples.  A few hours later, after I'd already forgotten that I even needed to buy the apples to make dinner for my family, my neighbor (who has started doing deliveries for The Neighborhood Garden on Monday nights) knocked on my door with a full bag of apples that our boss hadn't been able to sell.  Melissa (our boss) told Maureen to bring them over to me, and she did.  See?  Something as small as apples.  I just had this feeling that I shouldn't go out and buy 2 apples for a recipe, and apples quite literally showed up at my door hours later.  I know it seems stupid, just like the quarter on the bus stop bench, but God proves himself to me over and over again in small and big ways.  He has used Melissa to provide for me and my family and even my friends quite often, and I always tell her about the "miracles" later.  She has gotten to the point where she just laughs.  I mean, really.  She didn't know I needed apples, but she listened to the idea God planted in her head and gave me the extra ones she hadn't sold.  She has had me do deliveries in the past at the exact time Mike and I needed money for tires or other unexpected expenses, which was also a time I had a peace that the money would come from somewhere.


I have a bigger example of this.  Several weeks ago, we had one bag that hadn't been sold.  Melissa told me to give it to someone, and a friend's name came to mind.  I'm sure you've heard it said, "laid on my heart" instead of "came to mind."  But it's the same either way.  So, I asked Melissa if I could give the bag to my friend, and she agreed.  The bag contained garlic, zucchini, and oranges, among lots of other things.  My friend had been having a tough week financially, and literally had been praying specifically for zucchini, garlic, and oranges - or for the money to buy them.  (I had no idea she'd been having a tough week, and I of course had no idea she had been praying specifically for those produce items.)  And she got home and the bag of produce with those things in it was sitting on her doorstep.  I mean, WOW!!!!  God proved Himself again in a BIG and OBVIOUS way, and He used me to do it!


So, to sum it up, my "epiphany" has had several parts.  First, my feeling of peace is very trustworthy.  In fact, it has never failed me.  Second, I need to turn my worrying into a prayer and petition immediately and then stop worrying.  Third, my instincts are actually God speaking to me, even when the decision I need to make is as silly as buying apples.  :-)


How does God speak to you?  How does the feeling of peace manifest in you?


Since it's been over a week since my last post, I'll just tell you a few ups and downs over the last week.  As usual, my biggest frustration is my house and how messy it is.  I've begun to wonder if I'll ever have a clean house.  I just keep telling myself that the older Lynnie gets, the easier it will be to get stuff done.


On Monday night, a storm knocked our power out for 4 hours.  This is actually another one of those "instinct" moments.  I always cook dinner for our Bible study group on Monday nights.  Last Monday night I couldn't decide between cooking breakfast for dinner or letting Mike cook his chili.  Something just told me to let Mike cook his chili instead of me cooking breakfast (which I actually really wanted to do).  It made sense, though, since we already had most of the ingredients for the chili, and he happened to be off work.  He started it really early, which annoyed me at the time because we needed to be working on the house.  Well, the chili was already done by the time the power went out. I couldn't bake the cornbread in time, but the main part of dinner and the salad were done.  The power didn't come back on until we were just finishing up with our study.  We would have had to order pizza or something if I hadn't followed that "instinct" and let Mike cook his chili.  So while the power outage was frustrating, it was also kind of cool in that sense.  Also, it was funny to sit around with our flashlights, cell phones, and candles and read our Bibles.  I have amazing friends who just laughed it off!


Our kids definitely kept us on our toes this week.  Thursday, Lynnie scratched Mike's eye and did some pretty good damage.  He needed a tetanus shot, eye drops, and heavy duty pain meds.  It kept him out of work for a day, but he was still able to have lots of fun with some friends of ours on Friday. 


I got to go on a field trip with Bryant on Friday, and Lynnie was apparently a perfect angel for Erica, who was good enough to watch her for me.  I was apprehensive, because Lynnie hasn't typically been all that good for Erica.  But Friday she was great and even took a nap without anyone holding her!!!  Erica was even able to get a shower while she was napping!!!  That means it IS possible!!!  :-D


I look forward to hearing from you.  I really want to know how you know when God is speaking to you.  :-)