True Peace

True Peace
Could it be that one of the greatest joys of heaven will be true peace? I mean if heaven is the reversal of those things that distract us here on the earth and keep us from fellowship with God then truly peace must be at or near the top of the list. I say this because now in my life I find no real or true peace, it seems that we simply move from one place of turmoil to another. And it’s not even that we choose to move from one to another but rather that we are being moved from one to another with no choice or sense of direction. I liken it to the steel ball in a pin ball game, we bounce from one trial to another, we cannot choose how we hit nor how or what direction we will go next, truly the only thing we control is our heart. One minute we are hopeful the next those hopes are crushed, one day we are healthy the next we are ill, one moment we are happy the next our joy has been stolen, if we trust it is betrayed, if we love we are hated, if we smile we are frowned upon, if we speak we are quieted, if we speak of faith we are called foolish, and if we trust in man all is lost! Yes I believe the greatest joy of heaven will be the presence of our God and the peace that He alone can bring. If I have learned nothing else through this time I have learned this; that the enemy of our souls seeks to cause turmoil at all costs in our lives, he has no peace, and therefore he will allow no one else to have it either.
This past week I have been ridiculed in so many strange ways that I can only attribute these incidents to the influence of the enemy. Even at this writing I understand that some who read this will find themselves mentioned here, not by name as I would never do that, but by deed, yes. I know of no one who is in my sphere of influence would ever choose to be used by the enemy to perfect his design upon my family or myself. However not desiring to does not prevent it, prevention only comes through prayer, patience, sacrifice and understanding all of which are quickly pushed aside by passion and emotion. Let me also say that I myself have far too many times fallen into this same trap and allowed myself to be used to destroy as opposed to building up, therefore I understand the pain of inflicting pain.
This week Dawn and I have received once again not so good news from the medical field, our children are struggling with their emotions, and I am under a physical and verbal attack like few I have ever seen and none like I have ever experienced before. Please understand I don’t share these things in order to receive pity, encouragement, or any other response, no but rather to encourage you. You see I know that each and every one of you are facing your own mountains and challenges, and you like we have an opportunity and a choice. The opportunity is to have the privilege to learn from your trial and be a light to others, to bring comfort to those who are facing their own mountains. Your decision you must make however is much more difficult, you must choose to trust in the one you cannot see, to hold on to arms you can’t feel, to stand on promises of old, and to walk with the confidence of one who believes these things to be true. And remember, no matter how similar your situation or challenge has been to that of someone else it is never the same, your truly cannot understand completely their struggle but you can love them, be gracious to them, and allow them to fail, after all Jesus does.
Dawn and I are both re-living the pain of being told that her illness was terminal, and no matter how faithful one is, the fear and reality of this disease is ever present. Dawn is as strong and faithful a person as I have ever met and she is doing all she can to stand, even though at every turn her legs are being knocked out from under her. We cry out constantly for His will to be a healing and deliverance for Dawn, and consequently for our entire family, thank you for joining us in doing so.
Gene