“Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36) are the words Jesus used when appearing to His disciples for the first official time after they had witnessed His death….

Today is Easter…

I am still trying to figure this Blog thing out; my parents and mother in law just left after all of us having dinner together; my husband and kids are putzing around outside with power tools when a Guinea cage needs to be cleaned, laundry to be done, kitchen further cleaned.

I am succumbing to the idea that I will be reading the first 5 books of the Bible over the next 5 weeks along with multiple weekly assignments for my Ministry Prep program; I have a major adjustment occurring at work that begins tomorrow…all while Spring sports are about to kick into high gear!

Peace be with me?

I began my day with an awesome prayer time at my church this morning before coming home and preparing things for the day. The time before the Throne was rejuvenating…then I came home where the regular annoyances of life were played out before me in my kitchen when trying to get my kids and husband ready for church and house readied for lunch to eat when we got home later.

My peace began to wane….or so I thought when the condemnation of my weakness invaded my mind as I was filled with guilt for yelling, frustration over no one helping, and anxiety that this was no way to head to church on Easter morning for crying out loud!

But, you know what?

The peace Jesus spoke of to His disciples had nothing to do with their external situation: they were hiding in an upper room out of fear of being arrested for being associated with Christ and they were now faced with the fact that they were looking upon the apparent resurrected Jesus…They had to be freaking out! His peace went beyond their situation.

Jesus says to look past what you are seeing in front of you to get My peace…in the case for the disciples He is saying to look past that you think I am dead and yet I am standing right here in front of you; I know that trying to process with your mind what your eyes are seeing is seemingly impossible!

To me He says to look past what I see in front of me and peace will be with me too…I need to look past my weakness of impatience and see that I can be drenched in patience by the gifting of the Holy Spirit with more time spent with Lord.

I need to look past my busy schedule and insecurity over my ability to function successfully in a new class filled with difficult challenges and remember He is faithful to finish the work He began in me (Philippians 1: 6) and will equip me to complete each task.

He has done so much for me already: why doubt Him now??

My peace is found in knowing the Cross and tomb are as empty today as they were over 2,000 years ago…Jesus told His disciples that everything prophesized about Him had to happen…every aspect of the Suffering Messiah had to come true through Christ as told in the Old Testament.

The peace I have always been looking for has nothing to do with my circumstances or situation…it is based on Who set me free from being condemned by my weakness, failures, and insecurities…It is based on the One who sees me without blemish and loves me without end no matter how little I deserve it-that love was proven by the ultimate act of love on the Cross!

So…I sit here now re-thinking my perspective of whether my day contained peace or not…my belly is full of non-traditional Easter dinner food of tacos and fajitas, a breeze is blowing on my neck from the open window behind me, my dog is sleeping at my feet, the sounds of hammering, talking between my husband and sons, and whirring power tools is mixing with wind chimes while Pandora plays Chris Tomlin’s “Jesus Messiah”, my parents and my mother in law left our home happily instead of with tension between them (my dad even gave my M-in-L a hug!)…

Peace be with me…and also with you.