Peace Beyond Understanding

Seeing everything as grace has allowed me to become thankful. Not only for the good things, but also the bad. When you can thank God for something that on the surface looks pretty crappy, he begins to show you how it can be used for good. And what happens when you pray with thanksgiving? Jesus guards your heart with peace. It doesn’t really make sense, but scripture says that’s how it works. And it’s true. The peace that Jesus was so gracious to give me in the week or so before my surgery was crazy. Really, I didn’t know what it was. I wasn’t nervous or scared anymore. Somehow I was comfortable knowing that whatever happened God was in control, and He knows more than I do what is best. A couple months ago I thanked Him for my cysta, and it was around that time that I began to tell people about my surgery. Since then He has been showing up more and making His presence known. Honestly, I think that if I wasn’t able to be thankful, I would have remained angry throughout this whole process. That would’ve been unfortunate, because there’s no way my heart would have been able to see His grace. 

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus.

This was difficult to write because I could throw a ton of verses out there to make my point and to try and explain myself. But as Jesus told me the other day as I was linking different scripture in my head, You know, it doesn’t really matter what connections you make. I’m in them all anyways. In the end, it’s really about loving Jesus. That’s why He wants you to let Him guard your heart. The gifts He gives are His grace, and it is all because He wants you to fall in love with Him. 

The night before my surgery mi familia and I stayed in Phoenix, because we had to be at the hospital at the butt crack of dawn. After dinner we walked down to the ball field. There was a game, but we weren’t planning on going. As we were walking past the gates a worker came after us and asked if we were going to get tickets. We said no, and he then proceeded to say that he had four free tickets if we wanted them and that they were good seats. Obviously, we took him up on the offer. Turns out the seats were 30 rows behind the Diamondbacks dugout. The guys next to us had bought eight tickets, but didn’t need four of them. So they left the rest at the gate, and told them to give them to someone who could use them. We must have looked pretty pathetic walking by. The game was incredible. We won 10-0, and had a season high 17 hits, three of which were home runs. The entire game we would just look at each other and start laughing because we couldn’t believe what was happening. I love everything about going to a ball game. It was exactly where I needed to be that night, and the tickets were a gift from Jesus. He knows knows my heart and exactly what will make me love Him. He knows how to give me peace.

If that isn’t enough, what was the saxophone player on the corner playing as we were leaving? Jesus loves me. Yeah, He does. And I love Him back. 

Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!