Fresh Fruit

The roadside sign read, “Fresh Fruit,” so obviously, I pulled over. Baskets of fresh fruit, out of season all winter, were now in season! I bought a large bag of cherries and went on my way, enjoying the sweet fruit.

The Bible says that peace is one of the “fruits of the Spirit.” Sometimes it feels as if that fruit goes out of season, too. As the realities of war parade across my television screen, I can feel my own sense of peace fading; I share in the anxious thoughts of many across the world.

Sometimes the war also rages close to home in our work places or churches or even in families, as relationships rub on raw edges.

God’s Word shows us that his peace is never out of season. His peace is offered to our hearts year round. But how do we harvest this fruit? How do we have this peace in the middle of troubling news, near or far?

God’s peace is a gift. It won’t be found in conventional places or in ways the world offers. It is something directed to the heart, and it replaces fear and anxiousness.

To pick this fruit, to have this peace:

• Ask God to quiet your heart. Thank him that he sees and cares about what is happening and longs to bring his peace.
• Pray for those in leadership in these troubled days, whether at work or across the world, that they would seek God’s wisdom and help.
• Pray for those who suffer and for those who hurt and are confused and angry, that God would comfort them and that they would run to him and not from him in their need.
• Pray for those who create stress, that their own hearts would be softened toward God’s love and kindness.
• Ask God to take the unease in your own heart and replace it with his gift of peace. He brings peace to the world, one heart at a time.
• Share the peace he gives you as you go through your day, encouraging or offering to pray with another who is worried.

God comes in, by our invitation, and calms us so that we can bring calm to those around us. The peace that comes from the Holy Spirit is a mystery of His divine care. We receive it in order to share it.

Ask God today for his fruit of peace in your heart and mind. Ask him for an opportunity to share it with those around you who need His peace today, too.

Heavenly Father, today our hearts are heavy with the reality of war in our world. Please give your divine peace to our hearts and to our minds. Remind us to pray for others, both near and far, and with others as we look to you for peace in our hearts and also in our world. Grant us your strength, wisdom, and peace. In the powerful name of Jesus we pray, amen.

Throughout this Day: Ask God to remind you of one area in your world where peace is absent. It may be in a relationship near or in a circumstance afar. Name it to yourself right now. Take a moment and pray for that specific situation. Ask God to work in it and to show you how to be an instrument of his peace. Thank him for the gift of his peace. Ask his Spirit to flow that peace through you today to bring calm around you.