Have you ever been told – “You always have to be right!”? There’s likely been at least one time in your life when this has been said to you. And chances are, you’ve said it to someone else. To have to be right seems to be a human issue.
The way things are lining up these days in the world, many people are concerned about peace. It’s true – we do need peace for troubled times. But – things as they are – what does that look like? So – today we are talking about Peace For Troubled Times.
Have you ever done one of those dot to dot pictures? You know, the ones where you take a pencil and connect all the dots in numerical order? When you are done connecting all the dots, you see a picture you created. It’s always a fun surprise to view the final image. This is an important consideration going into each new year. What dots will you be connecting this next year? What picture will you create?
What is the best gift you’ve ever received? Was this special present something you received when you were a child? Or does this memory come from when you were a teen? Maybe your most favorite present came after you became an adult. Whenever you received it, you likely still remember it as the best gift ever!
Scary stories are scariest if you are in the story, but you don’t know what is going to happen. The risk is significant, the outcome is uncertain, and the danger is elevated. All the unknowns make scary stories hold your breath and hope things turn out OK. If you already know how things turn out, most of the “scary” is gone.
Managing Anything Is A Big Deal!Have you ever thought about how many things you manage in a day? It’s overwhelming. From a home and yard, to your budget. You manage health, weight, and wise shopping for food. How about keeping everything clean, fixed, ready to use? You manage your career, family, friendships. Even time-off needs management for constructive fun and rest. And – seriously – all your techie stuff needs managing. (Have you noticed?!) Computers, phones, devices, apps for everything you can imagine. There’s another thing you need to manage to have an Alive and Active Life. You need to manage your feelings.
Take a look at your hand. Right now, just lift your hand up and look at it. All your fingers, thumb, and knuckles. Your hand is an incredible creation. In an allegorical manner of speaking, your hand was designed by God to be a Peace Hand with strength, control, and agility similarly to your physical hand.
When a person is content, they no longer have task masters cracking the whip over their life. In fact, they settle into a living condition of peace. They have a quiet heart, despite surrounding threats, difficulties, or obstacles. It would be rare to see such a person get “riled up.” This person is quick to be flexible, open to the unforeseen, and satisfied in their heart. The thing they consistently do to remain content is to draw close into God’s great heart in the details of their day. They literally picture themselves in that safe place. It is in this place they can freely ask for wisdom, for creative ideas, for critical insight, and for direction. And – they hear God in their heart – of all things! These folks have learned about contentment.
The topic for today is fresh new life. You know life can shift pretty quickly. 
Mostly it’s in the small stuff. I’m sure you’ve been in a jam at some point. Caught in bad circumstances. You have that dreaded, instant panic feeling. It could be you lost your wallet or left your purse on a shelf in a store aisle. Perhaps you forgot to pay an important bill. You may have broken something very special or ruined a plant you were nurturing. Your keys to a public building, a safe, and your own home are missing.
Maybe you ran your car into someone’s fence or got pulled over for speeding. Maybe you said something you later regret terribly.
These kinds of things make your stomach churn. You just hope for some way to reconcile things with as little pain and upset as possible. Many of these scenarios are minor and temporary. Some scenarios are the big stuff – serious and life altering with long-term losses.
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