Thirsting.....Aching Part II

I'm not exactly sure what direction this post of mine is going to go, but what I do know is I want to be honest, and in the midst of this honesty, hopefully be able to bring some peace to those souls who might be struggling, hurting or just not feeling anything right now. I wish you all a very good day! I hope that today, if it has found you sadness, that after spending time here you find happiness. If it was a day of utter chaos, that after reading this post, you find a bit more peace.... Peace. Something so beautiful when experienced...something so precious that nothing I could buy could ever hold a candle to possessing this. Peace. I have to say...for quite sometime now, I have found my soul not at peace, but rather, wretched with an intense war. I have aches and pains that go extremely deep from this war. I'm not sure how it happened, or when it happened. But this past yr has been one of the most difficult yrs to-date. Now, there have been other months a few years back that could be found similar to this past yr., but this past year has been a dark time for me, BUT as those months of darkness and struggle ended, so I know that this time of chaos in my life, too, will end. I know this because God's faithfulness to provide me a peace after those months prevailed and I know I can live with a hope that the darkness of this past year will in time pass. With the help of family, friends and my boyfriend, I know that I will be able to get through this time:) Thank the LORD for a support system!!! Peace. Where can true peace be found? Where can I find this priceless gem in this dark life-cavern right now? If I look high and low, what or who could this peace be found? Well, I know peace can be found in the One who once took that which was chaos and made order out of it. As it says in Genesis 1, God took that which was a formless void (talk about chaos!) and created order, adding to it the sun for day and the moon for night....the birds for the sky and the sea creatures for the sea. He also formed from dust man, and took rib from the man and formed woman. Yes, God is a God who can take the most destructive and chaotic of natures and make it into being a nature of structure and of peace. He has even taken my chaotic nature of desiring sin and made it into the most beautiful nature of desiring peace. Peace. While life circumstances will change and our feelings about these circumstances will change as well, God is there to offer us structure and a constant peace in the midst of change. Constant peace in the midst of turmoil, of heartache, of sickness and pain. A God who stepped out of His structured order, peace and angel worship into our chaos, mess and despise towards him. Yes, in this act of "stepping out of/into", God made himself Incarnate; He put on flesh. He became "Emmanuel: God with us" as the man known as Jesus. Jesus. Just saying his name brings a peace to my aching soul. A soul that sometimes daily spits on my inheritance of peace I have in Him. A soul who, at times, would rather delight in crippling sin than freeing beauty. Ugh. So many times, I know what is right, yet I don't do it!!!! (Romans 7:16). Yet, I have to remind myself each day that Jesus- offers us a fresh start, a freeing beauty free from sin. We are now in the season that celebrates this Jesus, this man who was prophesied to be the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). How fortunate are we as humanity, to be given such a gift as this Jesus who is peace? How fortunate are we as humanity, to have a means of freedom from crippling and chaotic sin? I'd say, in short, we are very, extremely, drastically fortunate! But like any gift, we must be willing to receive, to take to ourselves the gift. December is a beautiful time to help us remember that during the darkest times of our lives and the most chaotic and pain-staking times of our lives, we are able to have a peace. That in our most darkest of days, the God of lights (James 1) has stepped out of his glorious heaven into our dark world as Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn 8:12). If you are going through a dark time, an aching time in your life, my prayer for your is that you turn to Jesus, the "Prince of Peace," and "Light of the world." Believe me, these past few days, (to my surprise) he was the last person I wanted to turn to, but yesterday...reluctantly...I did. And when I did, I found a peace and a light that soon blanketed my soul. Whoever you are, I am praying for you today. I'm praying that the Light of the world step into your world and offer Himself to you; he who is "the Prince of Peace," and "the Light of the world". I pray that you encounter the God who can take the most chaotic of natures and create a nature of utter structure and peace. Yes, sweet peace.