A Philippians 4:7 Kind Of Week

I know that many of my readers are subscribed to my mailing list but not connected to me on my fan page. As such, you probably didn’t know that my mother had a stroke Monday night and was rushed to the hospital.
Her children weren’t notified until the next morning after she had been there for hours. My sister got the call first, then she called me. It just so happened that I went to work that morning and found out that I was actually supposed to be off. They offered to pull a route for me but I declined and decided I’d go back home, as I live very close by.

When my sister told me my mother had had a stroke and was in the hospital, my heart began to race. A hundred different things were going through my mind. The uncertainty of not knowing has a tendency to do that. Our minds fill in the blanks for things we don’t know by making up it’s own stories.

It didn’t help that when I did make it there she wasn’t in her room. They had her down for tests. So again I’m sitting there, not knowing anything at all about her condition or the severity of her stroke. My sister came into the room shortly after, and to my dismay she hadn’t see mom either and didn’t know any more than me.

Well, finally after about 3 or 4 hours they finally brought her back to the room. As soon as I saw her face, it happened. Peace. Peace that passes all understanding. I’d experienced it before in my life, many times. But this was different. This was my MOMMA. And even though I had just seen her face after several hours of waiting, I still didn’t know any more than I did before. But when I saw her my first emotion was…

Peace.

As word continued to spread about what had happened I started getting calls and text messages. E-mails. Such an outpouring of concern. Everyone worried, in the dark, uncertain. Their minds perhaps filling in the blanks as mine had been doing.
But I was there with her. In her presence. I could see her smile. I could see the calm that was all over her. It was a peace I found hard to understand under the circumstances, even though I’d known her to be nothing else all my life but a woman of faith.

But there it was, on display, in living color in front of me. She had just had a stroke, yet she was anxious for nothing. Her peace became my own when I saw her. And as family, friends and followers began to communicate with me I found my own peace hard to understand.

But that’s how it works for the believer. There are times in your life where things happen that should cause you to feel every negative emotion you’re capable of. From anger to frustration to fear to sadness and every possible combination of them all. But you simply don’t. And that kind of peace transcends ALL understanding. Even your own.

Philippians 4:6-76 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.