Well, the storm has passed. We were spared (our power is still on) but a million of my fellow Americans are without electricity. Certainty in life is a rip-off artist. The more men try to control the world, including the weather, the more they realize they can't. God alone "does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of earth" (Dan. 4:35). I confess I was a worry wart over the past couple of days, concerned about the animals and the kids and the grandkids and the homeless. All I could do was place myself -- and them -- in his care. Entirely. Prayer, not despair, was the only recourse. I asked the Lord to spare us or at least mitigate the impact of the storm. In a sense, I think he did just that. "Prayer," writes Eugene Peterson, "is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters" (Eph. 6:18, MSG).
How about you? When we face the perfect storm, God provides the perfect peace. "MY peace I give you," said Jesus (John 14:27), and that "my" is extraordinarily emphatic in the Greek (go here to see why). This is his peace. And it can be ours. It IS ours if we claim it.