Grace or Peace

The Grace of God

The Peace of God 

What’s the difference? 

So, I did a study on the Peace of God this past week (focusing on Philippians 4:6-8 with other scriptural references).

I learned that, in general, the Peace of God, the Greek word eirene, is a unifying, restful peace. 

Our mind and heart join together with the will of God. We don’t have those internal struggles with ourselves and with what we know God wants. We don’t struggle against God. We have a restful unity with Him. 

Which made me wonder - isn’t that how we use the term grace?

“Lord, give me grace to deal with this.”

This hard time, difficult person, etc.

I guess people use grace that way because of II Corinthians 2:9, where Paul was telling about a trial he has endured and prayed for relief, but God’s answer was simply “...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness...” and Paul then concluded “...Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Yet the word grace there is no different than the word used all throughout the New Testament in a completely different context - the one of God’s unmerited favor in granting is salvation. 

Grace, in the Greek text, is the word charis. It means an act of favor, unmerited, deserving thanks. 

Remember Ephesians 2:8? 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:”

The grace of God that is sufficient to get us through hardships is the salvation He grants us through faith. 

Remembering this should then put us in a worshipful mindset. 

Philippians 4:6-7 says

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

When we dig deeper into this, we see that when hard times come, it is God’s grace, His gift of salvation, that leads us to His peace. 

In prayer (worshipful conversation according to the Greek), supplication (humble request) with thanksgiving for ALL He has done, we can request help for our problems. 

Then, the peace of God will unify our heart and mind with Him and get us through in a way we can’t even have imagined or asked for.

A peace, calm, that goes beyond our understanding.

So really, when we say “I need grace for...” what we really mean, in Biblical terminology, is “I need peace...”

Here is why I’ve been trying to study more in this topic and get a better understanding. 

My youngest (outside the womb) is a very difficult child. Stubborn, disobedient, you name it. We have struggled in almost every aspect of life in her nearly four years. From sleep, eating, listening, potty training... I could go on and on. She is also on the slightly hyper side of normal and high energy children is something I don’t always handle well.

Discipline doesn’t seem to work with her personality, and neither does bribery. There are times I seriously feel like giving up.

• Don’t worry, I haven’t.

People always say “you get grace when you need it, for the time you’re in.”

Perhaps that’s so, but I’m wondering if we are missing something so much more beautiful. 

I have God’s grace always. I struggle with peace in the moment(s) of trouble. 

I would much rather allow God’s grace to put me in the right attitude to allow His peace to fill my heart, mind, and soul. 

Every day

Every moment

Every situation

So that when I butt heads with my blessing of a stubborn youngin’, peace abounds and God’s grace is visible. 

Homeschooling During Hardships

Disclaimer: This is just my story. In no way do I want pity, nor claim that this is the hardest thing anyone has gone through.

So, let me tell you the story before I get to how homeschooling looked during this mess.

This is our second year homeschooling, and I started off strong.  I even updated this almost every month for a while.

Then, my dad had surgery; vascular bypass in his right leg.  The surgery went very well, he went to a local rehab facility to get walking again.  After a month and a half they were satisfied and he was sent home. 
     Problem: he was semi-neglected while there.  His wife and I visited almost daily and tried to stay on top of the staff, but he still got some bad bed-sores.
One week after returning home (during that week, home health never came out to work with him) he went to his family doctor and was referred to a wound clinic because of the sore on his left heel.
Gangrene was the diagnosis, more surgeries scheduled.
After 3 surgeries over the course of a week, they managed to save his foot. He had to go back to rehab though, because he had to learn to move around without bearing weight on that one foot.

Needless to say, we went to a different rehab facility.
He was there for almost two months. It was a LOOONG drive from my house, but we were there almost every day, staying on top of the staff and keeping him company as he was bed-bound.
     ~ Side note: around this time I discovered I was expecting, and if you know my history with pregnancies you know the stress this added to my life. It's a blessing , but also  a time of worry and uncertainty.
Anyway, suddently his Medicare stopped paying and they had to send him home. We had 10 days notice to prepare the house and line up equipment and home health care.
We went with a different home health agency than before, and they came out the day he got home to help up work the equipment sent to the house (which was not right for him) and were awesome. Dad was improving greatly under their care.

Unfortunately, two weeks after he gets home this time, as we were getting him up for a scheduled doctor appointment, he became unresponsive. The EMS crew worked on him for over 30 minutes but couldn't bring him back.  They said it was a lung aneurysm.

So then, we had to do all the funeral stuff, find his will, and now I am executor of said will and we have a long ways to go.

6 months, my daughters and I were traveling 30ish minutes (one way) almost every day to care for my dad. Dare I admit that "school" was very...  well, I'm not sure the right word for it.

Some weeks, I managed to be organized enough to take school work with us to do in the car (because doing work in the room with my Dad watching TV wasn't happening). Other times, I didn't.

We did meet weekly with out CC group, and doing the memory work in the car was a piece of cake. Most of the past 6 months that's all we did.

I could look back and wonder about all that my children missed.  My youngest did pretty much nothing, but she's preschool age and has plenty of time to learn her ABCs and whatnot. My oldest did "fall behind" in her spelling and math - in the sense that we just couldn't work on it.

Then, I think about it more.

These past 6 months, though challenging, have been a great blessing. My children spent a TON of time with their Papa. I spent time showing them that, even when it's inconvenient, taking care of family is IMPORTANT. My dad didn't have a lot of family in the area.  His wife has health problems, as does her daughter. My sister and half-brother live far away. I'm the most able-bodied one to help.

So I did, and my children came along.  They watched, they spent time with him, and even if they didn't learn anything academically I pray they did learn something.

Even if they didn't, I learned something.

See, God was with me the entire time. 
He granted me grace and health when my Dad needed someone strong.
God granted my children grace also, because in spite of the crazy schedule and not knowing what would happen, they handled it like champs. You hear stories of how kids behavior changes in stressful times, but honestly my children hardly had issues.
    ~ What a blessing, and it's not because I'm this awesome mom. It's because God is an awesome God.

I've been blessed to have my children with me and my dad each day.

I've been blessed to not be working and therefore able to be with Dad daily.

I've been blessed with a husband who, though an obsessive neat-freak, didn't fuss when the house didn't get taken care of regularly. Or when food was on the table late, or was some frozen dinner when he's used to home cooking. He didn't complain about many other things he dealt with during this time also.

I've been blessed with friends who, during the week+ after Dad died, just jumped up to send me messages of prayer and encouragement. Friends who stepped in to watch my girls last minute while I did funeral stuff (and took them the day he died while I stayed around the house to help my step-mom).

My church family stepped in to help with food and such, even though he wasn't part of our church.

I can't even mention all the ways I have been blessed.

Most of these blessings would have been different/impossible if I were working and my children were in public school. The fact they were with me and I had the freedom of time to devote, made this whole situation work.

So, yes, academically, things didn't go well.

Another benefit of homeschooling.  They can easily "catch up". They learned life lessons that I couldn't teach them otherwise.



So, long post, but let me encourage you of something. If you come across hardships during homeschooling, and you can't "do school" as you planned, that doesn't mean you are failing or your children will never be "at grade level" again.

It means you have the freedom to do what you need to do.  Your children will learn from your example.

Do what God leads you to do.

If you don't do the academics for a month, 6 months, a year, it's ok.  God's got this.  

He's got you, your children, everything in His hands.

Prayer works

Have I mentioned how much I cringe when I hear people say something like "thanks for praying, it worked! >insert thing they wanted to happen<" 

It's like praying is the same thing as wishing on a star or tossing a penny in a wishing well. There's a sense of surprise when "prayer works." 

Prayer works. Hmmm...

When did things change? It used to be that we KNEW prayer worked because prayer was just part of our connection/relationship with God. We needed God like we need food and water. 

• I guess we have enough candy, soda, coffee, that we forget we need nutrition and water until we get sick. 

Now, it seems like we only turn to God in prayer when we have a specific want (yes, want, not always a true need). How often do we turn to God and just say "I need YOU" instead of "I want ---"

No wonder there's a sense of surprise, we are such children! 

My children are always asking me for things.

Here's an analogy for you. M'ija, 6 years old, has been nearly perfectly behaved all day. Her room clean, no fighting or arguing, etc. It's 30 minutes before daddy gets home for dinner and she asks "Mommy, may I please have some candy?"

In her mind, she has no reason to be denied this request. Yet, I say no. Her petition failed. 

She comes back in 5 minutes and asks again - I don't even answer her. Now, not only has her request been denied once, but now she is not being listened to. 

Sound familiar? She was denied the first time because something better for her is coming. She wasn't answered the second time because she already knew the answer. 

Don't we do this to God?

When we have a specific request that gets denied, sometimes over and over again, we feel like He doesn't care, isn't answering. Like praying "doesn't work."

Now, I know the analogy is a bit oversimplified, but hang with me a little longer. 

Let's talk scriptures. We know how powerful praying with faith can be. 

Matthew 21:22 " And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

John 14:13-14 "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

Yet to we remember this one also?

James 4:3 " Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

Then you have the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8.

But remember, she was wronged and the judge didn't do anything. At the end of the parable, Jesus tells us He is righteous and will avenge. 

Let's weigh all the verses together (and others I didn't reference) and I can sum them up - again a bit oversimplified, but I am not God. You want to full story, dig into the Bible yourself. Here's my summary - we have to be in the will of God. Our faith need to not be in His gift-giving, but in His Love, Power, Wisdom. 

See, prayer works, but it is not like wishing on a star. 

It's good to ask God for specifics, some people walk so closely with Him that is all they do. I admire that intimacy, strive for it myself. Personally, I'm not there. I tell God my desires, the specific answer I want, but I also pray more for His wisdom because I have received my wants enough to know that, quite often, I didn't want what I thought I wanted, and definitely didn't need them as I believed. 

So, prayers for peace and wisdom often accompany my requests for said desires.

See, He is my Father. Being a mother has taught me a lot about how this relationship is supposed to work. 

He loves me, wants me to trust him to tell Him things - things He already knows but means so much more coming from willing conversation.

He loves me, wants me to respectfully ask Him for things - and just as respectfully accept no as an answer. 

He loves me, wants me to trust His wisdom and knowledge.

He loves me, wants me to come to Him when I'm sad, hurt, angry, and let Him hold me. 

He loves me, gives me all the advice I need, but then let's me learn the hard way sometimes. He let's me make my own choices, even if it will hurt. He loves me enough to not be a tyrant - He gives me freedom.

He also loves me so much that, when I finally swallow my pride and return to Him, He holds me. He comforts me. 

He loves me enough to help heal my hurts and help me sort through the messes I make. 

I love my girls, they love me. I love for them to ask me things, talk, etc, yet nothing compares to when my girls just come up to me and love on me. 

These are all things I learned as a mom who loves her children. 

Matthew 7:11

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?