4 AM Alarm Clock

As if the change associated with Daylight Savings wasn't bad enough, our dog has decided to make it even worse. The past two nights our dog has decided it needed to bark at something about 4 AM. The dog doesn't bark once or twice but barks continually for 30 minutes or more. He doesn't seem to take time to breathe, but he does slow down the pace after nearly an hour of constant barking. To say that I am aggravated at the dog is a gross understatement. Although I generally run on less sleep than some, I still value what little sleep I do get. Sleeping in the recliner, at the other end of the house, does little to muffle the noise. If I were to go outside and reprimand the dog, he would be back at it before I laid back down. I can do nothing about the neighborhood dogs coming into our yard and causing our dog to bark. There seems to be very little that I can do to remedy the situation.

When it comes to certain situations in life, our peace can be robbed from us. We look at the situation around us and we are confident we have no way of regaining our peace. We think we have to bare with it and just deal with it. But that isn't necessarily the case.

God promises us that His peace can work in our lives. Philippians 4:2-9 is a great place to start when we need to seek out God's peace for our lives. Last night, we went through this set of scripture during our evening service. After another restless night, thanks to our dog, I thought it might be good to share the points of the message in regards to us keeping peace in our life, our church, and with God.

1. Agree with each other. (Phil. 4:2)

2. Seek Help with a Disagreement. (Phil. 4:3)

3. Rejoice in Everything. (Phil. 4:4)

4. Be Gentle with Others. (Phil. 4:5)

5. Quit Worrying & Pray! (Phil. 4:6)

6. Allow God’s Peace to Work. (Phil. 4:7)

7. Meditate on Godly Things. (Phil. 4:8)

8. Follow Godly Examples. (Phil. 4:9)

When we follow God's directions for anything in life, even gaining peace, we know we will be successful. We know that His plan is always perfect and if we follow His lead we can achieve the peace we so desperately crave.