Driving through the rises and valleys of rolling hills, the eastern woodland valley floor is covered with last year's deciduous, faded foliage like an invitation to come away and walk in secret places.  The trees stretch winter's bare capillaries toward the sky, willing for spring, beginning to feel life-giving circulation coursing through their dormant veins.  My eyes search each distal branch for signs, soft bulges of red, pink, white or green bursting from the internal DNA. Scattered trees carrying light, wispy pillows of pale green or bursting with Spring flowers. I search for them like I search for  Peace, hungry for every little sign of it in my life, grabbing hold of the hope every swollen bud offers, willing the evidences, manifestations of it to show. Each time I see it, I'm joyful, grateful, half surprised to

see it there right in the middle of life's chaos and craziness.  It's like the peace David describes in Psalm 23: lead by green pastures and still waters, confident of the Presence in dark valleys and being filled and satisfied right in the midst of the Enemy's camp. It's not about external circumstances but about the One who walks with us in the quiet and the chaotic places.

    Just as the roots suck nutrients in through the roots and the heart of the tree gives it life, so also, Psalm 14:30 says: "A heart at peace gives life to the body."  When the heart is grounded in in the nutrients of fellowship with God and His Words, life surges through the body, flowing out of peace. And over and over again a heart at peace comes back to faith, to confidence not in circumstances or in the fact that everything will be alright or in easy, pleasant times but in the Eternally Existing Three in One seated on His thrown in absolute power and wisdom - every expression of His person being for me and loving me and watching over me and working in me, being invested in my well-being and my being found in Him.  Confidence in an unshakeable kingdom and more unshakeable KING, learning from him and relying on Him in the midst of every little moment gives me strength to overcome my fears, quell my rising anxiety, settle my troubled, struggling heart and respond in quiet grace. I don't have to enter into the chaos of the storm or daily battleground but can be an onlooker who sees it and speaks/carries peace into it, seeing the glory of God breaking through in 100 different ways and revealing Christ to the world, through me life.  Let it be!

Because He Lives!

Because He lives - Amen! newer version
Because He Lives 
Story behind the hymn