Peace In A Blanket

Is there ever a time that we don’t pray for or seek the peace of God? The kind of peace that takes your breath away. The kind of peace that makes you feel as if time was standing still. Well, that’s exactly what I experienced this week. How to describe something so beautiful may show to be a little difficult, but I will try. This morning as I woke up I was laying on my back (which is a position that I usually never lay) but I was at that moment. As I was on my back with my hands on my stomach, almost like I was dead except I wasn’t… there was this overwhelming blanket of peace covering me. The kind of peace that you know had to have come from the Lord. A peace that says fear has no place. Because where the light shines, darkness cannot co-exist. John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. As I awoke in this peace, my breathing was very shallow, but in a good way. It was as if I was not breathing on my own. Like as if it were God who was breathing for me. It was not of my own doing… I felt like if I would have passed away in my sleep, then I would have been more alive than I’ve ever been. It was probably the most beautiful feeling I’ve ever had..

Because I was asleep, it was a vulnerable moment in which God had met me where I was. In a moment I wasn’t expecting, a moment that my mind or heart was not able to distract me from His will. So, from there I immediately went into prayer before my feet even hit the floor. A prayer that began with the most the humbled way.  A prayer that became overwhelming with thanksgiving because of His love for me. My Heavenly Father loved me so much that He met me where I was. In Him showering me with His peace, I knew that He was being purposeful with me. God knew what I needed and exactly when it was beneficial for me to receive it…. Because just 12 hours before this, I was having a conversation with a friend, revealing for the first time how because of my childhood and past mistakes, I have lived in fear of many things in my life. I desired to be free from all this fear, and when I woke up the next morning, I was blanketed in so much peace that I wasn’t even sure I was still alive on this earth. I promise that the words I’m speaking could never express the amount of peace that surrounded me. I have never in my life felt more beautiful, more cared for and more peaceful.

So, from that moment after prayer, I grabbed my coffee and my study materials and began studying and searching His word for more clarity. There are so many scriptures to refer to the peace of God. Like in Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Or in 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. That’s exactly how it happened for me. I confessed my fears and laid them down before the Lord and He laid upon me a blanket of peace, because He cares for me. Then as I was sharing with a my friend, this is what she read to me.. Peace is directly related to the attitude and actions of individuals; but it is ultimately a gift from God. Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The presence of peace indicates God’s blessing on man’s obedience. Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. And faith Isaiah 26:3 The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because He trusts in You. There is no peace for the wicked Isaiah 48:22 There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.

So, today I encourage you to lay it all at the foot of Jesus and allow Him to be that peace that surpasses all understanding for you. My personal guarantee is that when it happens and it’s every bit of God’s peace blanketing you, and not of your own doing, then you will know exactly how that peace becomes a gift from our Heavenly Father. You will realize in such a beautiful way that that peace is the blessing He is pouring out over your life, because He cares for you.

                                                                                                                          Karen Hurl