Unexpected Peace

A few nights ago, I began a two-hour drive to meet up with family for a little getaway. A drizzly rain was falling from the evening sky as I left. It eventually cleared into a pink sunset, which deepened into dark as I drove.
  
That evening drive turned out to be one of the most beautiful, peaceful moments I had experienced in a while.


Just enough moisture continued to fall from the sky to require my windshield wipers on low speed. The earth, trees...everything seemed covered in that damp, after-rain hush. In my rearview mirror, I could see flashes of lightening, left over from a passing storm, light up heavy clouds hanging in the sky.
  
The whole evening was magnificent and breath-taking as I continued my drive down the parkway, passing lush fields and rolling hills in the dark. In the stillness, surrounded by the scenery of creation, praying was the most natural, instinctive thing I could do. I felt complete peace and assurance in that moment. All the things that sometimes concern me---work, relationships, challenges, choices---transformed into a quiet calm as I felt assured that all would be well, that everything was right on schedule, that I had nothing to fear.
  
I wish I could access that feeling of assurance in every instance, right when I need it, when circumstances blow up or when doubt overtakes me. Even more, I wish I did not always need that feeling. When my emotions are the last to realize that I, indeed, am taken care of and that Someone bigger has a plan, I wish I could just rest in the promises, even when I don't yet feel assured.
    
Nevertheless, I am so thankful for that moment of peace, that beautiful memory of creation seeming to silently breathe that He is carefully watching me, that all is well, and I don't have to be afraid.