Peace

Peace....
What does peace even look like? Does anyone this day and age even know? Is peace even possible in a world where things like division, hatred, war, and chaos are such a reality? I ask myself those questions a lot lately. Sometimes it's overwhelming. I often have to take a step back and realize there's almost nothing I can do to change the state of the world. I also cannot change other people - which for me is a huge struggle to rest in. I can however, start with my own life.

What does peace mean to me, in my own life? If I'm being honest, most days I don't know. If I get dressed in new clothes, get a shower in, get my daughter to school on time, and make it through the day in one piece, I feel like I'm in pretty good shape.. haha. THEN my days are filled with yelling, punishing, crying, toddler tantrums, and taking deep breaths. Yep. Sounds like motherhood. There's very little room in my life for "peace" these days. Not to mention having to deal with ALL humans... other adults with issues and their own daily battles like me. Throw in freedom of speech, difference of opinions, social media, and a divided world, and you've got yourself a life where peace often feels very far.

So that's the bad news haha... but the good news is that it doesn't always have to be that way! I am no expert, I am DEFINITELY a work in progress in this area. I have a roof over my head, food at my reach all day, friends and family who love me, two beautiful children, an incredible husband, and a savior in heaven who loves me unconditionally. Then why on Gods green earth do I feel anything BUT peace.. ever! Because I am a sinful human being who is run by her emotions. For everyone it's different. I know many people who struggle with real anxiety.. real depression. I think it's important for everyone to recognize what it is for them personally that makes them struggle in the area of peace.

What makes you lack peace in your own life? Maybe you care too much what other people think about you, and the world is a messy judgmental place. Maybe you spread yourself too thin and you're just burnt out and tired every day. Maybe you are even struggling with an addiction. Maybe you have some sort of physical ailment. Maybe you or someone you know has cancer. Or maybe you are a mom who puts so much into other little lives that some days you feel as though you have nothing left to give to yourself or anyone else. Everyone's different, but I think we can all say that we WANT more peace in our lives. I think it's important to recognize though, that sometimes the battles we face can't be fixed over night - in fact most problems can't. Some can't be fixed at all. So what do we do then? Well.. we look for the olive branch. Yep.

My name actually means "olive branch", which to me is a symbol of peace. I love this passage of scripture in the Bible that makes that symbolism so real to me:
Genesis‬ ‭8:6-11‬ says “After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.”

I love this example of peace. Why? Because the story of Noah was actually a pretty dark one. We all know the brightly colored happy smiling animals version of the story from church or Sunday school.. haha. But in reality, God choosing to flood the entire earth is actually pretty crazy! It's sad, dark, and lonely. And yet.. at the end there's not only a rainbow, but this beautiful picture of peace and hope.

I used to think that the opposite of peace was anxiety or worry. But that's going with the idea of peace being a feeling. I heard a message about peace once and she said "fake peace is feeling, but real peace is knowing." Peace is.. your olive branch. It's that glimmer of hope at the end of the flood. Or sometimes, it's a glimmer of hope DURING the flood. In the story of Noah yes, the dove came back when the flood was over. However, we don't know how Noah and his family felt.. but I'm sure in many ways it was still a struggle dealing with the aftermath of so much death and destruction. I think in some ways the dove and olive branch entered at a part of the story where there was probably still a lot of confusion, unknowing, and fear for Noah's family. I think that's what's beautiful about that story. Peace came at the RIGHT time. It came not because the struggle was over, but as a way to show Noah that life will carry on again.

You might be dealing with some pretty heavy stuff right now.. so maybe peace isn't something you think you can have or deserve. But you can. Sometimes we think we have to have our life in order before we can ever feel peace. That is so far from the truth. Maybe just KNOWING that there will come a day that you can overcome whatever it is you're going through is all the peace you can have right now. Then maybe.. just maybe.. THAT peace can lead you down the path of healing. That's what real peace does. It doesn't come once everything's ok. It comes as a light in the midst of a storm.