Peace Be With You

 ¹⁹ 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!” -John 20:19

I love this verse.  It shows Jesus as the active one in our relationship with him.  There is nothing we need to do.  He comes to us when we need him, we don't have to "conjure" him up with prayer or worship.

Can you imagine the disciple's fear on that Sunday before they understood what had happened?  The Jewish leaders are angry, the Romans are suspicious, and the disciples are confused and in fear of their very lives.  So they lock themselves behind a door.  But Jesus comes into their midst with a message of peace.

Have you ever been in that place where you are so afraid that you can't even ask God for help... because you are afraid he won't... or because your deepest fear is that he might not really even be there.  We lock the doors of our heart so that we can't be disappointed.

But Jesus finds his way in anyway, heedless of the locked door and UNINVITED!!  It may be through a caring friend, or a compassionate doctor, or even someone completely unexpected who comes to you in your fear and in your time of need and speaks Christs words, "Peace be with you!" and suddenly that's exactly what you feel... peace.

Yes, the circumstances that brought you to fear are still there, but it doesn't scare you anymore.  You know that Jesus is there and he will walk down the very Valley of the Shadows of Death with you and no matter what happens, it WILL be okay.

Peace be with you.

Lord Jesus,
Thank you for recognizing that we might sometimes be too afraid to even call upon you and taking the initiative to come anyway.  Amen.

Joys:  Good advice from a friend; being able to sleep through storms rather than being up all night worrying about them; staying connected through photos and updates with family through Facebook... technology can be amazing