Last night was not the most restful of nights.  I woke up at 1:18am feeling as though I had slept through the night.  That’s a great feeling, except when you know you have hours left to sleep and you’re wide awake.  When I focused on trying to go back to sleep by just closing my eyes and lying still, I wasn’t successful. That’s when I felt as if God put someone in my mind to pray for them…so I did. Many thoughts and prayers for this person came to my mind, and my focus was not on me but on God and this other individual.  Guess what happened?  I ended up falling asleep while chatting with Jesus. I like falling asleep while talking to my Best Friend For-eternity.
Around 4:00am, I woke up again.  This time, I didn’t try any sleepy-time remedies on my own; I went straight to continuing my conversation with my BFF.  God not only kept me praying for that one person from my 1:18 awakening, but He gave me a few more others to say a little prayer for.
I discovered that the underlying theme for each person was a need for a feeling of peace to wash over them.
You see, each person’s situation was different, yet God’s grace, stillness, and comfort was what they each needed to make it through this season in their life.  (Don’t we all!)
Then, when it was officially time to rise and shine, I went to read today’s devotional in the Jesus Calling book and guess what the theme for today was?  Yep, you guessed it…peace.
Here are the verses that went with it today:

• “Lord, help me learn your ways.  Show me how you want me to live.” Psalm 25:4

• ‘On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”’ John 20:19-21

• “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

 
Here are the thoughts God kept revealing to me this morning:

• You will go through tough times in life. Some may last longer than others. No matter what the struggle is or how long it will last, God will be right beside you.
• Allow Him to show you His glory in the end.
• Grab hold of His hand and walk with Him.
• Don’t try to solve life’s problems on your own.
• People are watching you to see how you handle your situation. They may be someone observing you to see how a Christian goes through tough times, or it may be a child looking at you to discover how they should one day handle life’s ups-and-downs.
• Remember your strength comes from the Lord, not your own.
• Remember that God will use situations in your life to build your character and make you stronger. Yes, even if it completely stinks in the meantime.
• Smile…God’s got this. Give it to Him!
• And when you can’t sleep at night, talk to Jesus. He’s always up and ready to chat. HE doesn’t mind if you fall asleep on Him.

I pray God’s abundant love and much joy for y’all.