My dearest Pam,
Colossians 3:15 says this:
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…And be thankful”
It seems to me that thankfulness in the midst of suffering is not only the antidote to the poison of suffering, it is a predicate to peace. By that I mean that finding a place of thankfulness not only assuages the agony of suffering, it precedes a peaceful heart. We have both seen friends and loved ones who have no peace in a hard place; fear rules their heart.
I am grateful, so very grateful, that we have not lost our thankfulness in this season. If anything, we rehearse all of the reasons for our thankfulness continually and I believe peace flows into our hearts on the wings of thanksgiving.
Further this verse tells us this peace rules over our hearts. The Greek verb brabeuō literally means to arbitrate, much like an umpire at a baseball game. When we allow God’s grace and the power of his Holy Spirit to umpire over our hearts, we find peace.
In Philippians 4:6-7 Paul puts it this way: “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Here again he points out a nexus between thanksgiving and God’s peace.
Finally, our personal favorite, James Montgomery Boice commenting on the legacy gift of Christ in John 14, where Jesus said to his disciples, just before his passion, “peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” Boice says this: “The story has occasionally been told of a contest in which artists were to submit paintings and sculptures portraying their understanding of peace. Some showed beautiful sunsets, others pastoral scenery. But the prize went to an artist who had painted a bird in its nest, attached to a branch protruding from the edge of a thundering waterfall. This is the idea involved in Christ’s legacy. In times of outward peace anyone can be at peace, or at least many can. But it takes an exceptional peace, a supernatural peace, to prevail in the midst of great outward trouble and inner distress. Christ’s peace is just that, exceptional and supernatural. As he explains in these verses, it is a peace that is to be present in his own in spite of the vacillating nature of the world around them, his own absence, and the vigorous activity of the devil and evil persons.”
As we prepare for the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving, I give thanks for all that you are and have been to me; friend, lover, partner and counselor.
I honor you for leading me and our family to God’s peaceful refuge during this season of your suffering.
My love for you has never been greater and my admiration of you has never been stronger and finally, my desire to serve and comfort you has never been more unquenchable.
I love you so dearly.
Brad