I love to read Gone With The Wind once a year.
I love to dance and I own up to the fact that I don't do it well.
I could eat only Mexican food for the rest of my life.
I love all things in this world best when they come in written form. Novels, love letters, anything having to do with pen and paper, computer and keyboard.
But those are just bits and pieces of me. If you ask me who I am, I will answer every time:
I am a follower of Christ.
And I can sum up my reasoning and prove to you that He's real, too. With just one simple scripture. You don't have to believe the Bible is true to try this out. You've got nothing to lose by exploring this one scripture and seeing if it applies to you.
In the New Testament of the Bible, you'll find the book of Philippians. What you're looking for is chapter 4 and verse 7. It goes like this:
"And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Peace is a rare commodity today. But I've been in heart-wrenching, despairing situations and I've applied this verse and I've found pure, inexplicable peace even in the midst of my world falling apart.
The reason I believe in Jesus is because He's brought me this amazing peace that really does surpass my understanding.
The first time I experienced this strange, inexplicable peace was when I was 18. My parents separated, my grandfather passed away from cancer, and my best friend of more than a decade, well, ceased to be my best friend anymore. I fell into a deep depression. Until I picked up the Bible and read. It didn't matter what I read. Maybe Proverbs, maybe the statistical book of Numbers, anything I read from the Bible would bring me peace. My circumstances hadn't changed. My life was still lonely and I still didn't have any answers. But, I did have miraculous peace. Deep down in my heart. Can't-understand-it-but-surely-can't-deny-it peace.
The second time I put the words of the Bible to the test was in April 2010 when I found a tumor in my left breast. It was very large. It had spread to my lymph nodes. It would require chemotherapy, radiation, and a mandatory and immediate mastectomy.
I had a three-year-old and a one-year-old. As a 28-year-old Stay at Home Mom, I had minimal life insurance and I was at the epicenter of my little boys' lives. I was their whole world. What would happen to them if I died?
These are issues and questions that popped up many times in 2010 and still pop up in weak moments today. And every time, every stinkin' time, that I come to God and plead with Him to show me the truth of His word and the power of His love, He does.
I ask Him, "God, bring me peace, despite these circumstances." And He does. Ours is a broken world of heart-ache, divorce, family estrangements, political uprisings, and heck, even toddler temper tantrums! In this world, those of us who choose to believe can find peace and joy despite our surroundings.
I've got proof.
I've got no doubt that it will work for you, too.
The last two words of that awesome scripture are key, "Christ Jesus."
I don't follow Him blindly. It's my assurance that He's the real thing that allows me to follow Him with abandon.
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