She sat across from me, this cherub of a child, and asked me to pray that her grandmother who passed away suddenly almost a year ago would come back to her. I leaned in to the Holy Spirit. What do you say, what do you pray after a request like that? I followed His lead.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV

I prayed that His peace, that peace that is beyond understanding, that peace that doesn’t make sense, would guard her heart and mind.

Peace, when I hear that word I think of the Hebrew word shalom, completeness and wholeness, nothing missing and nothing broken, the peace that comes from being whole. The word used for peace here in Philippians 4:7 corresponds with the Hebrew word shalom (Vine’s Dictionary, 1996).

This little girl was broken. She was missing her grandmother. She had a hole in her heart in the shape of her grandmother. As I prayed, I saw that God wanted to fill that hole with Himself. He wanted to make her heart whole again.

He would fill that empty place in her heart and she would have peace again. How can you have peace, how can you be whole when your loved one is gone? It doesn’t make sense. Yet His peace surpasses all understanding.

What hole do you need Him to fill? Invite Him to fill it. He will make you whole again. He will give you His peace to guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

Be made whole, in Jesus’ Name, amen.