Sometimes, I’m not very comfortable with simply being at peace:

• Being at peace with the fact that I don’t have a big story to tell, or big advice to give today.
• Being at peace with the fact that God is with me and He is working everything out for my good.
• Being at peace with the fact that God is good, and I can simply rest in that.

It feels strangely peaceful to accept that God loves me, exactly as I am, in this moment.

It’s a strange kind of surrender to accept that He is proud of me, exactly as I am, in this moment.

Yet, all that I really want to tell you today, is this: you have permission to be at peace.

You are fully seen by God, and fully loved. You have permission to rest in that, and not strive.

Maybe it’s been a long time since somebody told you that you were doing well?

Maybe it’s been a while since someone pointed out all of the good bits that they see in you, despite your struggles?

Maybe you’ve been blind to goodness and peace around you?

Today, I wonder if – like me – you might need a bit of a refill.

If so, I think my one, small piece of Saturday advice to you would be this: let God lead.

***

For a second, imagine visiting a park that is completely new to you.

You don’t know what you will find in this park – trees, flowers, a warm coffee shop, a picturesque viewing point…

God knows exactly what you will find in that park. He wants to blow your socks off, showing you things that you have never seen before.

He wants to walk with you and watch you wonder.

But, in order to enjoy rest and peace like that, you have to let Him lead. You have to let Him show you true rest and true wonder.

***

The other week, a friend sent me a link to a song that I hadn’t heard before. The lyrics began:

Peace like a river wash over me

Immerse me in water as deep as the sea

Hide me in love Your healing embrace
Peace like a river wash over me

Lord Send Revival, Hillsong Young and Free.

I listened to this song whilst walking along a local riverside.

As I walked, I noticed that the river beside me was not steady or still at all. It was quite literally thrashing. It looked brown and murky… let’s just say I would not have readily let you immerse me in that bath. It did not look peaceful!

I began talking to God about this concept: “peace like a river…”

“Why do people sing about having peace like a river? Why do people want to be tossed around in a vigorous peace, all brown and murky?”

I found two bible verses about having peace like a river. The first:

This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches you what is best for you,
    who directs you in the way you should go.
 If only you had paid attention to my commands,
    your peace would have been like a river,
    your well-being like the waves of the sea.”

Isaiah 48: 17 – 18, NIV.

What did I learn from this?

Peace happens when we submit to God’s leadership and pay attention to His commands. When we are obedient and faithful, our well-being will overflow like an ocean, full of water.

I felt like God said to me: “This verse is about peace being your source. When you place Jesus as your life-source, your peace is guaranteed, overflowing and constant.”

Peace can be strong and vigorous. Sometimes, when we are walking through really tough stuff we need a peace that really does cover us in thrashing waves. Sometimes, when we have questions, we need a peace that doesn’t actually make sense.

Rivers sometimes have currents that lead you. Other times, they thrash and cover you, keeping you in the middle of a storm. God leads us like this – by His peace. Ushering us down a particular current, or keeping us immersed in His presence, through the eye of a storm.

There is another bible verse about peace like a river:

For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
    and dandled on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 66: 12 – 13, NIV.

This speaks of peace being comfort – the kind of comfort you get from a nursing mother, bouncing her baby on her knees.

When I breastfed my first daughter, she became so content being close to me, trusting me for all the nutrients she needed, regardless of the day or time. But, at first, she had to learn to suckle. She had to learn how to latch to the source and get what she needed.

So, peace like a river means that you are comforted by God, you are fed by Him. You are given all that you need in this very moment. It’s just about you accepting that. It’s just about you trusting that, in the middle of pain or joy, He will provide abundantly for you.

Sure, it’s a strange kind of surrender to accept that today you can simply rest in God’s comfort and provision. It’s a strange kind of peace that washes over us, in the eye of a storm. Yet, that is the peace that God gives. That is the peace that He promises, to each of us. Whether we feel near to Him, or really far.

Today, I just want to encourage you: everything you need, all the peace of comfort that your heart really, really wants can be found in Jesus.

And you can stop and accept that, right where you are today.

Hold out your hands, with me, and ask God to show you His peace:

“Show me how you are giving me peace today, Lord?”

“Show me how you love me in the middle of all distraction and chaos.”

“I choose to place you Jesus as my source of life. Show me how that makes you feel.”

As you pray these prayers, expect God to show you something new. Expect Him to lead you to something that causes awe and wonder to give way in your soul. Write down whatever comes to your mind and delight in the fact that peace like a river is yours for the taking, this Saturday.