Yesterday was a lot of things but unexpected seems to sum these days up the best.

I had a plan—nothing too crazy, just your average list of things I hoped to get done, but before my feet even hit the floor as I was climbing out of bed, the plan was already changing. A few text messages sat on my phone about changes needing to happen to some of what I had planned that day.

“No big deal,” I thought to myself as I began getting ready.

Two hours later as I was preparing to dive into my Thai class online, I heard my gate opening outside. An unexpected visitor who I thought was going to be coming on a different day.

“Okay, no problem,” I thought again as I messaged my teacher to reschedule my class for the following day.

None of what had happened that morning was truly a big deal, but I felt flustered nonetheless. Still, after the adjustments to my morning, I gathered up my things and made my way out to the truck to drive down to the office. I turned the key to start the engine, grabbed the gearshift to put the truck into drive, and then paused.

“Take a breath, Kristy,” I whispered to myself as I exhaled deeply. “Jesus,” I whispered, “none of this is a surprise to you. So, bring it all to peace—this whole day, everything it holds that I don’t see coming, just bring it all to peace and help me to carry Your peace well through it.”

Most days I find myself whispering a similar prayer into the air. These days, peace feels like the thing we need most but that life makes the most elusive to find. There is war across our border in Burma—a long standing civil war spanning over 70 years that has reached new heights in the past year. There is war happening in Afghanistan as Taliban leaders have seized power from the former government and are now oppressing their people on a whole new level. There is war in Ukraine as Russian forces continue to bomb and mortar civilian cities in an effort to gain more power. Peace feels hard to find.

The days swirl around us filled with the unexpected and unknowns. The world stumbles forward trying to sort out the constant swirl of war, famine, political discourse, and every other thing that falls in between. And some days, we just need to whisper into the air, “Jesus, bring it all to peace! And help me to be a carrier of Your peace.”

There’s a set of verses in Isaiah—a lot of verses, actually—that are my rock, the firm foundation I continue to stand on. But this particular set talks about this peace we have access to, peace we get to choose to carry.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.” (Isaiah 26:3-4)

We have access to peace at any moment of any day. To find it, we need only to put our trust in the Lord—to lift our eyes up to Him and trust that He is still good, He is still faithful, He is still for us, and that He walks with us wherever we go no matter what may be swirling around us.

“The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” (Isaiah 58:11-12)

The Father will be faithful to lead us, just as He always has. His peace that passes all understanding is available to us if we would just take the time to scoot ourselves up as close to His side as we can get. And as we do, He’ll fill us with His perfect peace—peace that will “be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” He’ll use us as carriers of His peace to rebuild and repair what’s broken around us if we’ll just stop to take hold of peace, to be so filled up with it, that we carry it with us and overflow it wherever we go.

“Shalom” might be one of the most beautiful words ever spoken. A greeting and a goodbye, it carries a wholeness, a completeness, a tranquility, and a peace that is deep and overflowing. This is the kind of peace we have access to—peace that comes from heaven, a place that is also at war but knows the final outcome!

Friends, today, may you lean in close and be filled with the perfect peace of the One who holds the victory. May you breathe deeply of His love, His compassion, His peace, and His hope and may you carry those things out into this world among the people and places He has called you to. The unexpected will come, life will swirl, but His beautiful Shalom peace remains. So take hold and walk with courage toward whatever the swirl, and then, just whisper peace into the air.

He is with you. He is for you. He is in you!
Shalom.