Isaiah 9:6:

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

When I went with my two friends to Israel, I earned a nickname that is rather funny. I earned the name of “banshee” during a very bizarre cab ride. It would literally take me 20 minutes to give you a complete picture of the cab ride, but I will keep it to the moments before I screamed loud enough to wake the dead. You see, I believe the cab driver must have been having mini strokes for him to be driving in the manner he was. When you don’t speak the language and you are in a somewhat dangerous country, you do not just jump out of a cab when you don’t know where you are located. That vulnerability will make you endure events that you would not in your native country.

While sitting in the back seat, quietly having a conversation with God on how to get out of the cab, I noticed that we were about to hit a stopped city bus. As we got closer and I continue to question in my head on what to do, we hit the stopped bus and folded the entire front end of the Mercedes cab. As crazy as it sounds, the bus just pulled off and we then followed behind them. Then came the pedestrian that the cab driver was now aiming for with the damaged cab. I couldn’t take it anymore. I mustered every sound that I had in my body and screamed “Stop!” so loud that every human in earshot trembled. Thank you God, we stopped! Now we still could not get out of the cab for about another ten minutes but when we did, my girlfriends laughed at me. My friends knew me and it was not common for me to go around yelling at people or making big public displays.

My nickname was given to me as a tease towards something that I did that seemed out of the norm for me. Was God joking when He proclaimed the names of Jesus? Many could question the name “Prince of Peace” because there is no peace on this earth. In fact you could argue that the opposite is true about peace on earth. Or is it?

When you get to know Jesus you learn that the Prince of Peace is a relationship peace. I know this because when I was mentally or emotionally wrecked from life, I called on Him and He answered me with His bold peace.  Several times because of events, my insides went numb from too much pain. When I miscarried, for weeks all I could utter was the words “dear God.” When my mom suddenly died, my prayer was “this hurts too much, God; help.” Every time I prayed, I felt His wonderful presence. Now the pain did not go away, but for that moment I did not feel that hope had left my life.

My dear friend is completing her first deployment. In a five-month period she lost her grandmother to a stroke and just recently her mother to a sudden heart failure. I know what is in store for her for the next few weeks. Unbelievable numbness with periodic thoughts of this is just a bad dream.  When loss happened to me, I walked around in a fog performing what was needed of me, thinking the entire time, “my world as I know it is gone.” I am not a person that questions God, but I do suggest if you are, ask those questions directly to God. Don’t stop the communications. I challenge you to take this verse and challenge God with it. If you truly believe in God and have faith in His will, then proclaim this verse in your life.

Your circumstance will not change; in my case, this meant my baby was not coming back to life. All I knew was that my dream of motherhood just died and I felt that God cheated me. After long conversations with God and proclaiming the many promises in the Bible, I understand that most things are way beyond my comprehension. I just have to trust. I just have to believe. I just have to ask God to give me peace with my circumstance.

I cannot figure out why some people walk through fire after fire. I do not understand. I don’t think we are supposed to because we cannot see the big picture from God’s view. What I can do is tell you what I do understand and believe. I believe that God’s will is perfect. I believe that I can do all things with Christ who strengthens me. That does not mean that I am always happy or that I want to endure the circumstance in front of me. It just means that I have the power and might to fight the evil that plagues this earth and I have a choice to a peaceful life even with severe loss.

My Jesus gives me hope and there is no peace without hope. Thank you Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace for my hope.  Thank you that I can proclaim your names as a promise from You to me and all those who follow and believe.

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Today we are pleased to welcome our guest blogger, Kathleen Cline! Kathleen is the author of God + Military Spouse: United Our Families Will Stand and I Want To Be the Fat Pretty One: Reflecting God’s Esteem. You can read more about Kathleen at her website.

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