Shalom and PEACE to you today!
Not only does our Saviour’s birth bring Hope, but His birth and very presence usher in a peace that passes all understanding! It’s a peace that transcends a fear of “What’s next?”, or the dreadful fear of ‘What’s going on?” It’s a perfect peace that the world can’t give and the world can’t take away no matter what this old world brings to our table. So yeah, really as serious as COVID is and as controversial as the vaccine is, and as many varied opinions as there are out there, they pale in comparison to the Peace that our Saviour offers to the very soul of us in our deepest distress. Because it’s all ok anyway isn’t it? If we know this one born to deliver the world from its sin, we know we’re in good hands in His safekeeping and as His divine prophetic plan unfolds before our eyes, it surpasses any crazy plan the world and its top leaders have in store for us. It’s a generous gifting from our Lord to us. Yeah, Jesus, Our Prince of Peace, came to share it with us and His sweet peace is not as the world gives but rather a sense of well-being welling up within ourselves. A peace that comes from our willingness to change and repent and do a turn about of direction. To walk with Him in His way of salvation and in His ways of abundance. It comes from simple trust in our Prince of Peace, the sweet Savior of the broken and hurting and those beaten and scarred and torn up by sin’s choices.
” Shalom” may His favour rest on you today as you seek Him and find healing in Him for such a time as this.“The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace!
”Numbers 6:23-26
Thing is, the fear is huge and the questions unending without any concrete answers. Sadly, man has lost control of all he thought brought happiness to his world. Of all, he thought he held tightly within his reach, within his power. Today, we realize we really have so little! You and I and we and us, today, here we sit, all of us, now no longer watching other countries suffer but feeling the nitty-gritty of our own countries in chaos and failure. Our economy writhes in pain as travel becomes somewhat restricted, and sports events carry on without spectators in the bleachers. Masks are a way of life and mandates and protocols are put in order for shoppers. Malls close and restaurants tighten their doors and here we are sitting smack dab in the middle of the fear and pain of it all. Now we sit on the edge of global collapse under the defeat of a pandemic that can’t be stopped and a clever beast that can’t be controlled. Is it God’s wrath, maybe?
Beautiful one, this desperate scenario, we see today, as hard as it is, is nothing compared to what a lost eternity will hold! A lost eternity will be a place of hope gone forever with no way to escape. There, no mask will protect and no protocol will keep one safe. It will be a free-for-all for the enemy to have his way, and he won’t care one whit about you. It won’t be pretty and it won’t be fun. Hope will sink with the final sunset of a lost eternity where the sun will rise no more. Ponder it as you sit wringing your hands over today’s problems and realize that today is the day of salvation. Today He calls but tomorrow may be too late to heed the call. Today is the day of salvation and coming to the Lord to find shelter under His wing of salvation, protection and unconditional love. Yeah, He’s got this hard place and in His mercy, He always makes a way through. 
We need to pray for deliverance and at the same time, as believers in a Sovereign God, remember we have an eternal hope to hold on to. No, we don’t know the outcome, yet still, we hang on to our solid trust in our Saviour, and our deepening faith in our faithful God, that all is well with our soul, never giving in or giving up!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
So friends, let’s keep on keeping on staying strong in our faith! Trust the Lord and fight this battle with the efficient and powerful “spiritual weapon” of Peace and a sound stable mind.
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 