Extraordinary Ordinary!Sample

While living in the battle zone known as Earth, something more valuable and more eternal has actually been given to us than the mere absence of trouble. We have been given peace in spite of trouble, pain, storms, and war because of the life of and promise of Jesus; we have been given a peace that stands up to pain and says, “I win!” Jesus Himself faced excruciating pain, betrayal by dear friends, physical torture, and loneliness. He was often misunderstood and wrongly accused and yet offers the promise of peace in the very midst of pain to His disciples today. Jesus experienced this extraordinary peace while on Earth’s shores and it is His legacy to you. Jesus left His peace with us because He wasn’t going to need it where He was going. Heaven is already the place of ultimate and eternal peace; Jesus knew that we, His disciples, were the ones who would be grappling with the injustice of Earth-bound living and so He left His peace with us. It is the inheritance of believers to know the peace of Heaven while living in the tragedy of sin, sorrow, and suffering. A common mistake believers often make is to confuse His peace with the peace the world offers. The world is only able to offer peace in the absence of horrific pain, the nonappearance of gut-wrenching problems, and in the vacuum of severe conflict. God’s peace reigns preeminent over any false peace the world could vainly offer because God’s peace trumps worry and pain. God’s peace destroys anxiety and disappointment. God’s peace dominates over trouble and suffering. Whatever this world or the enemy tries to throw into your life, the peace of God is greater still. God, our loving Father, told His Son, Jesus, to bless you with His peace before He went back to Heaven. God longs for you to embrace the peace of His character and the peace of His presence. God’s peace declares, “There is nothing to fear. I have been to your future and it is well. I am there.”