My heart is saddenned hearing about Amy Winehouse's death this past week. Death at that age to anyone is a sad thing, but especially when you see someone searching and struggling through life. One of my favorite movie quotes is from "A Bronx tale" and says, "The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent." Amy used her talent but for whatever reason made certain choices to use drugs. And whenever you use drugs , the drugs will always use you.
    

So many people are tweeting "RIP." This phrase has had me pondering all day. Rest in peace. I know people are meaning good when mentioning this but what does this really mean? Do people really know what their saying? What is peace? How do you know you have it?

Well this week has been the toughest week of my life so far. I have learned what true "Peace" is. My wife and i were 12 weeks pregnant and had a typical 12 week check up for my wife. I'll never forget this tuesday in all my life. I woke up excited and ready for the day, having no idea my life would change forever. For the last 3 days it has been a crazy roller coaster ride i wish on no one to experience. As we sat in that doctors we found out our baby's heart stopped beating a week before. Our 1st baby, our dream, our little bean we had fallen in love with. Those 48 hours we prayed, cried, and cried some more. It was like we were in this washing machine with anger, hurt, confusion, and shock all being tossed around. Our baby had been taken from us and we had no time to deal with it. We were pushed from office to office, to waiting room to waiting room. Finally the next day it ended, my wife had one of the most painful procedures as they took the baby out of her womb. Being a minister i have preached on faith and peace many times, yet it seemed so foreign in that moment. And yet now it's more real than ever. So what is peace?

Most people when they think of peace, what they really mean are "CALM CONDITIONS." You see as humans we associate peace way different than how God does. For God, peace has NOTHING to do with the absence of fear, but instead has EVERYTHING to do with the presence of Christ.

"While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frigtened, thinking they saw a ghost." -Luke 24:36-37

Jesus stated a huge fact, that he was now WITH them in the room, and so now peace is WITH them in their circumstances. You see i think what people really want is calm conditions and not peace. And unfortunately God never promised calm conditions, but He did promise His PRESENCE.

"Surely i am with you ALWAYS, to the very end of the age."-Matthew 28:20

And this week it was His PRESENCE that filled me with peace in the midst of my unpeaceful circumstance.You see, peace ISNT a positive doctors report. Peace isn't having no trials or conflict in your marriage. Peace ISNT having a lot of money, and peace ISNT knowing what the future holds for your life. True peace is the knowledge of the fact that Jesus Christ is with you even when you get a bad report from the doctor. That Jesus Christ is with you in those tough times in marriage. That Jesus Christ is with you now, and with you forever in your future.

Jesus said, "Peace be WITH you." He was saying, " I AM peace, and when i'm with you, you can have PEACE!"

God brings His peace into situations where FEAR is the strongest and where we're most frightened. Not where there is no fear or nor trepidation. Steven Furtick says it best, "It's in the moments when we need God's peace the most desperately that He supplies it most abundantly." So as much as in that situation i wanted the calm conditions, i found God's presence, and TRUE PEACE.

 

And it's so funny that the symbol for this world of peace is an upside down "broken cross." In the world things are always backwards. Because of what happenned on the cross, we can have PEACE, TRUE PEACE. Thank you for your PEACE Lord, i can't imagine going through tragic moments without you. Thanks to all my friends and family for your support through this week. The meals, the prayer, the games, the videos, and just your ears have meant the world to my wife and I.

Shalom,
    Chris