AWASH WITH PEACE

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything you can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7 NLT

We were getting eaten alive. Literally. And we could not see the perpetrator, only the effects. We were covered in small, itchy, red blotches. Their intensity grew over time and they increased, seemingly overnight.

We needed help. Desperately. But first, we needed to figure out what was going on. But how does one do that when the attacks are coming from an unseen thing? Beats me.

The scene: Orchard House Farm (our farm)

The who: us

The what: unseen bugs of some sort

The when: possibly only when feeding the farm animals

The solution: anyone’s guess

We looked up farm bugs and found a plethora of options. We had this problem last year but not to this extent and using diatomaceous earth seemed to control the problem. This year is a different story. My husband diligently applied diatomaceous earth where our hens are, as well as the goose. For good measure, he powdered our newly arrived piglets, the sheep and horse. Nothing was better; his bite count was going through the roof, mine were driving me insane leaving behind huge welts that were up to 5 inches long.

We called vector control – part of county service which helps with bug abatement – usually mosquitos. They did not know what we were dealing with and wanted us to take samples of the bugs biting us.

Did I mention we could not see them?

I called again and was directed to the Ag Commissioner’s office and spoke with a nice deputy. Yet again, he did not know what we had going on, but he was willing to ask around his office to see if any co-worker had heard of our plight.

We were scratching our heads, our bodies, everything.  We were miserable. We tried everything we could think of and we kept getting eaten.

I asked for prayer in our Sunday school class – we needed God’s mighty hand to lift the plague. An old timer from the area remembered growing up with something similar and he pointed out horses, hay, birds, oak trees and such being the potential culprits. We actually suspected the wild turkeys that chose to roost here on the farm (a large flock, which comes annually). We might be on the right track.

With this new found information, my husband found a type of spray which is safer for humans and animals and eradicates pests. Maybe it would work. He sprayer – we waited.

It only worked just a fraction and now the plague was getting closer to the house and not near animals.

We began looking into mites – dust mites, hay mites, etc.  Nothing quite fit, but a possibility.

I decided to call vector control again to invite them to come see what we were experiencing on the farm – a show-and-tell, if you will. We could not catch a sample, but maybe they could come to the sample.

That conversation was awful. Flat out terrible. Have you ever had a conversation where you are talked over, not allowed to finish a sentence, not given the time to explain a situation, and not given the right to be heard? Well, this was one of those. One for the books.

And it rattled me. Being misunderstood or not seen nor heard does do a number – and it did it good. What’s worse is that I could not debrief with my husband as he was teaching all day.

The true solution: a walk and prayer with God

I began to walk and talk. I shared my heart with the Lord and poured out my angst. I told Him how much I needed Him and His leading in this situation and I told Him I needed His peace to wash over me. I gave my self again to Him and I submitted to His will. Period.

I drew near to God and He drew near to me (James 4:8).

The instantaneous peace was palpable. My whole being felt God’s Presence and His peace. No longer did my heart race with frustration, rather it was calmed and guarded by my Father.

It was beautiful.

In one instant, after I cried out my need – God provided the answer and it was not only what I asked for, but more importantly, what I needed.

And that peace has not left me – but the bugs have.

We are ever thankful and I am ever grateful for the peace of God which is beyond my comprehension. The bugs are abated and God’s faithfulness through it all showed me more of His goodness. How incredibly satisfying.

Do you need a wash of peace?

PRAYER

Father God, thank You so much for Your Peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. You wash us with Your peace. It is Your peace which guards our hearts and minds. It is You over all. And what a wonderful gift this is. Thank You for always giving us exactly what we need when we need it. Thank You for covering me with Your beautiful peace. I am flooded by it and it’s glorious.