by Jill Lord

I heard an ad recently for a tanning bed salon that said something like, “Do you want to be calm, relaxed and glow…?” It went on to state that using their tanning beds would achieve this state for us. I realized they were hitting on an inner desire of many people – a longing, a yearning that we have to escape the craziness of this life, if even for a few moments, in order to experience a relaxed, calm state. Slithering into the tanning bed, being immersed in its warmth, then arising tanned, feeling good, and glowing is a dream. I immediately thought that we don’t have to ruin our bodies and increase our chances of premature skin melanomas in order to be calm, relaxed, and glow. Jesus does that to us without all the radiation.

When Jesus lives in our hearts, He will cover us in His peace. He stated it in scripture, “My peace I give to you.” It’s a promise. Through all situations, trials, tribulations, hectic, frantic, crazy, rushed times we face, we can still experience His peace in our lives and this warmth that allows us to arise and ‘be calm’. His peace transcends all understanding, which means, we may not be able to wrap our heads around the fact that we feel peace amid chaos, but it still happens. I want that.

We can relax knowing our future is in His hands. Not only our future, but our here and now is in the palm of His hands. Our sins don’t define us. Our pasts don’t define us. The wrong things we’ve said or done or even thought are all tossed as far away as the east is from the west. We are forgiven of all that mess and given a freedom to live the life He designed us to live. He has great plans for each of us, for good, not for harm. Though we may be going through a tough time, it’s not the end. It’s not permanent. If we give our burdens to Him and trust that He will work it all out for the best in His omnipotent, amazing ways, we may relax. He’s got us covered and halleluiah for that!

When Jesus lives in our hearts, He will shine through us radiating His love and joy to all those around. His love will gush forth, pour out from us, beam through us, smile through us, and love through us simply by living in our hearts.

So, save your money, save your skin, and save your health! Avoid those tanning beds. Accept Jesus as your Savior and let Him do His thing in you. You’ll experience calmness, relaxation and radiate a glow, you never knew was possible.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16