Perfect Peace
"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust you.” Isaiah 26:3
Insight
A few years ago, My One Word was steadfast. I chose it in hopes of finding deep-rooted stability in Christ alone. Our culture is constantly pulling us in all different directions, and my desires tug at me even more, but I wanted to stand firm in an ever-changing world and know that my life gets built on the foundation of Christ.
As God often does, the year I chose steadfast seemed filled with even more chaos than I had imagined. We ended up selling our home and moving into a fixer-upper; we were pregnant with our third child, and the week of our move, we discovered that my son had some severe allergies. The house and the pregnancy were planned, but the allergies were a curveball we were not expecting.
I still remember the day we found out. I had begrudgingly taken my son, who wasn’t a quiet one, to the allergist. He had severe eczema and had reacted oddly to some common foods, but I had heard that it was unlikely to get clear answers under the age of two. When we arrived, I told the doctor that I was pretty sure it would be inconclusive, to which he agreed. No one in my family has allergies. The doctors and dermatologists thought it was unlikely, so I became even less excited when we discovered the appointment fell just three days before our house closing. The doctor tested for the seven most common allergies and pet dander since we had two dogs in the house. To my surprise, not only did he test positive for three things, but the reactions were so severe they had to give him two doses of Benadryl and keep us for monitoring.
I left the doctor’s appointment with a brochure on allergies, a prescription for an EpiPen, and a feeling of shock that I wasn’t sure how to handle. I remember sitting in the parking lot before I called my husband and feeling like the news had just knocked the wind out of me. Although, looking back, I can see God’s faithfulness in a million ways, the timing with the move was a huge blessing because of a pet allergy. Finally, we had clear answers rather than continuing to guess what was going on, and we knew people who had been through this before us that could help.
The initial shock had the potential to wreck the stability I had longed for that year, but it didn’t. It didn’t because I had taken the time to lean in and dig deep into truly knowing God intentionally. It wasn’t because God did something special for me that He doesn’t do for anyone else. It was because I set my life up to be placed on the foundation of Christ alone. Not on the foundation of a perfect system, convenience, or even what others thought, but on God's faithfulness and what He promises.
He promises never to leave me. He promises to go before me and show me a path when I can’t see where to go. He promises perfect peace. All I have to do is trust Him. Many questions followed the weeks after the initial test. Will he grow out of this? What will he eat at birthday parties? What about visiting family or figuring out food for the holidays? What will this look like when he starts elementary school? The questions were endless, but God’s answer was clear: trust Me. God continually reminds me that I don’t need answers to all of those questions; I just need to take it a day at a time and continue to walk with Him.
Our son is three and still has allergies, he still cannot eat all the usual things, and we still have a lot to navigate. But God has blessed us in so many ways, and the peace I continue to feel as we navigate the different tests and circumstances is a reminder of God's faithfulness to us. He has shown me grace, mercy, and understanding in ways that I could never have learned without walking through this journey, and my son has handled it all like a champ. If I’m honest, I’ve had a more challenging time with it than he has. I’m continuing to learn that God doesn’t promise to take away the trials, but he does promise perfect peace to those who trust Him.
Reflection
In what circumstances do you need to experience perfect peace?
What would it look like to trust God amid the uncertainty?
Prayer
God, thank you for Your perfect peace. Thank You for knowing my concerns and worries and continuing to hold those as I choose to trust You. Thank you for loving me as I am and constantly providing the stability that I desperately long for and need. Help me continually rely on You more than depending on clear answers as I navigate the unknowns of life. Amen.
Katie Robinson, Children's Ministry Home Coordinator, wrote today's devotional.