And to start our time,
Just take a moment to settle into your space,
Wherever you might be sitting or laying down.
Just allow yourself to arrive here.
Begin to notice your body and all of the places where your body is supported by the floor or by furniture.
Just have a passive awareness of how your body is feeling and simply noticing without any sort of judgment.
You might like to do a little scan,
Beginning with your feet,
Noticing your feet and just relax them.
Place your lower legs into your knees,
Upper legs,
And relax them,
Bringing awareness to your hips,
Your tummy,
Chest,
And your back,
And relax.
Check in with your shoulders,
Arms,
All the way down to your fingers and let them all relax,
Relaxing your neck,
Your head,
Your jaw,
And the expression on your face.
Take a breath in and a breath out.
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling through the mouth.
And as you continue to breathe naturally,
I invite you to place one hand on your heart and one hand on your tummy.
And so without trying to change anything,
Just begin to notice your breath,
Curiously noticing what happens as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Your chest rising and falling,
Abdomen filling with air,
Then deflating,
Bringing awareness to the temperature of the air,
The quality of the air,
Maybe even any aromas,
And then gradually deepening your inhale and your exhale,
Taking your time for a slow,
Steady breath in through your nose,
Luxuriously long breath out through your mouth,
Inhale,
Filling up full of peace,
And exhaling out any sense of heaviness,
Taking an easy breath in,
Inviting a sense of calm,
And easy breath out,
Letting go of any feelings of tension.
Beginning with these nice,
Deep breaths,
I invite you to simply listen as I read through John 16,
33,
And so in this time,
Knowing there's nothing else that you need to do.
You simply get to be here,
Resting,
Allowing God's word to just wash over you.
So see if you can allow yourself to be open to receiving any new mercies or grace that you sense your creator extending to you through his word.
Jesus said,
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.
Here on earth,
You will have many trials and sorrows,
But take heart because I've overcome the world.
Is there anything from this passage of John that stands out to you?
Is it something that you can connect to in your life?
As I read the verse a second time,
See if you can sense where God might be offering you his comfort.
You might even imagine your name being inserted into the scripture.
Jesus said,
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.
Here on earth,
You will have many trials and sorrows,
But take heart because I've overcome the world.
Take another deep breath in through the nose.
Exhale it out through the mouth.
You're welcome to pause the audio if you'd like to focus a little longer on this passage and God's promise for peace and victory.
And whenever you're ready,
I'll close us with a prayer.
So as I close us in prayer,
I'll be inviting God specifically to minister to any parts of us that might not have a sense of peace and inviting God into perhaps the parts of us that might not quite have the strength to shift into a space of confidently saying,
I have peace in you,
Lord.
And the reason that I'm going to pray this is because sometimes I think that reading scripture can unintentionally almost feel daunting in a sense or a comparison that makes maybe any places inside of us of little faith feel kind of bad or wrong or that sense of defeating.
And rather than us trying to hide it or ignore it or dismiss it or somehow force it just to get better,
I think that a better answer is to look to God and ask him to breathe new life and new hope into the places of us that are in need of him.
And so Lord Jesus,
We thank you that we have scriptures that we can resonate with.
Thank you that alongside these scriptures,
We can still sense your peace and love.
Because God right now life feels overwhelming and defeating.
We feel powerless,
Out of control and struggle to see any way to overcome these circumstances on our own.
And spaces within our being that we cannot bring about sparks of hope on our own Lord.
We pray that you'd use your promise,
As stated in John,
To bring about sparks of peace and calm and security.
Please help us to cling to your promise that you have overcome the world.
Help us to remember that you are still in control.
Someday these problems will seem minuscule in light of eternity and your great victory.
And thank you that you've given us your Holy Spirit to help overcome our obstacles and temptations in our lives.
Would you shower us with your great peace,
That we may know that on this earth,
We'll never be free from trouble,
But your Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome it.
Show us how to see the obstacles in our lives as opportunities for you to show your power,
So that they'll not seem so overwhelming.
Knowing that it isn't our job to hold all things together,
But that in your wisdom and grace,
You can use the very hardships and weaknesses that frighten us as tools to help us overcome.
Lord,
You are steadfast,
True and constant.
And none of our burdens are too big or too heavy for you.
And we just praise you,
God,
For who you are.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.
