“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:26–27
My kids and I get up early—they have to be out the door by 6:45 am to catch the bus. They make their own lunches and get their own breakfast, so I really don’t need to be up, but I still rise early, in order to have a few minutes with them. Besides, it takes me a while to wake up, and if I sit and drink coffee while they get ready, the grogginess clears in time for me to start working once they leave the house.
During one particularly difficult season of life, I would stand, waiting for the coffee to brew, and I would sigh, without realizing it. My son, who is very tuned in to subtlety, came and stood next to me one morning and gave an exaggerated sigh. I looked at him. “What?” I asked. “That’s you,” he said, sighing loudly again.
I hadn’t even been aware. It got to be a running joke. When I would sigh, one or both kids would loudly sigh as well. “That’s just how I wake up!” I would say. But there was more, below the surface, trying to escape in those sighs. I was weary, emotionally. I’d let life’s challenges trouble my heart. I’d ignored Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit, and the supernatural peace He gives to His children.
Sometimes, sighing is our troubled heart’s way of crying out to Jesus. I began to pay attention to my sighs, and rather than sink into sadness, I would use them as a reminder to pray, to receive the peace that Jesus promises.
Faith step: What are the things that make you sigh? Are they perhaps something to pay attention to, a reminder to pray and to ask Jesus for the peace He promises to His children?
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