“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

We are going away on vacation, or maybe even for a long weekend.  What is the greatest gift that our boss and co-workers can give us?  Yes, a little peace.  When we get a few days away that are without controversy, stress or turmoil back at the office, it does really feel like a gift.  We should consider this as we close off the last days of summer and be intentional about ensuring that our employees and teams feel as they can really unplug and have peace of mind about what is going on back at the office when they are trying to squeeze in those last few days of summer vacation.  We look for rejuvenated employees to come back from vacation.  We can help that by giving them the gift of peace.

Now, tilt up the gift of peace to having the peace of God in our lives.  A very close friend of my Mother’s died this past Sunday.  He was a strong man of faith and never doubted for a moment where he will be spending eternity.  With his passing he also gave a glimpse of God’s gift of peace to others in the way that he died with such great assurance.  We can be at peace of mind and heart in that we know how it all ends.  What happens between now and then can be looked at as noise.  Of course we are to live our lives to the fullest but to do so we must accept the gift of peace and mind that God can only provide!

Reference:  John 14:27 (New Living Translation)