"I've Got Peace Like A River!..."

Scripture Thought of the Week, Philippians 4:6-9

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.  Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.”

We have a children’s Sunday School chorus we sing that talks about having peace like a river in our soul.  I've been thinking lately about Christmas...Yes, Christmas.  It is just around the corner for those of us in The Salvation Army, and I’ll admit, I have found myself getting anxious about it.  When looking at the theme for this month, I noticed it was peace, and I thought to myself “How fitting...”  We can allow things in life to worry and bother us, stealing our JOY even though our God given WISDOM tells us to Look up to the hills, from where our help comes from.  My challenge for us is to remember that.  No matter what may come our way, God can handle it, and we can be at PEACE.  God definitely reveals to us through His word what His wants for us.  Joy, Wisdom and now Peace have all been theme words for this year at the Center of Hope, and God has been showing us that indeed He is always aware of the big picture, even when we are not.  These all seem to tie in to the scripture of the week in Philippians.  The Lord has many things in store for us in the future, and we need to remember that He is in control, and allow Him to have that control in our own lives.  He has a great plan in store for us all, we just need to remember to use wisdom to know that He love us, and has a grand plan in store for us when we let He have control.  We are to keep the joy in our lives no matter what comes our way in life.  Finally, let us remember to have peace in knowing that God is in control.