Fears and Tears

Do not let your heart be troubled, John 14:1, these are the words the Lord spoke to me while I was in prayer last week. It was the last thing I had written in my journal after spending an hour in the chapel. He spoke to me in the silence, where I could hear the chirping of the birds outside, the creaking of the church inside, while I was watching the flickering of the candles around me, I heard the Lord. He said, “My daughter, enter into the silence, listen, breathe, be aware, I am all around, I am always speaking, seek me and you will find peace.”

Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. John 14:27

The next morning, I spent time on the lake with my husband. Our new kayaks had arrived and we were excited to try them out. We decided to purchase them as our anniversary gift to each other and we had a lovely and peaceful day together.

The lake was calm and serene and my kayak glided smoothly over the surface of the water, responsive to my paddling and turned easily in the direction I wanted to go. It did not take much to get used to it and I was able to take in the beauty that was around me.

In that moment, the Lord was speaking to me without words, through what I was experiencing. To relax and let go, to exercise new muscles, to notice the plant life that is below the surface and the sandy lake bottom. To see things not visible from the shore like the beaver dam by the cattails, the fish coming to the surface or the ducks bobbing around in the water.

It was a great lesson to keep my paddling steered towards the Lord, to follow Him and hear His voice in everything around me, to step outside and have new discoveries, to seek Him, because that is where the peace is found, and my heart is not troubled.