There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of Peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

Author Unknown

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

Lamentations 3
¹⁹ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
²⁰My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
²¹But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
²⁵The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
²⁷ It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
²⁸Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;
²⁹ let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope;
³⁰ let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
³¹ For the Lord will not cast off forever,
³²but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

Joel 2
²⁵I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
²⁶ “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.  
²⁷ You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Isaiah 42
3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.