Blog, Viewpoints
Peace
May
As she entered the room all eyes were on her. She carried both grace and dignity as she walked to the front and sat down. Quietly we waited for her to begin. She looked at each of us with a silent smile, one at a time. Minutes passed but not a word was spoken. The room was filled with forty teenagers ranging from the ages of 12-18. We all lived on a college campus together with our families so our bond made us as rambunctious as you can imagine. After time passed I could hear someone awkwardly shuffle their feet, uncomfortably cough, or shift side to side in their chairs. Each growing more and more uncomfortable with the silence.
“Was she going to speak?”
“This is awkward.”
“What is she doing?”
I could feel the mumbles internally and externally. Finally, after close to five minutes, she rose from her chair and spoke these words,
“You have to become comfortable with peace.”
Now, I was only twelve at the time Mrs. Owens spoke these words to me but many, many times in my life they have reverberated back to remind me, “Become comfortable with peace.”
Peace isn’t just silence.
Peace is an acceptance.
It’s an acceptance of the lack of drama, the acceptance of the lack of fear, the acceptance of the lack of chaos. On more than one occasion, I have had to literally tell myself out loud: “It is okay to NOT have chaos, It’s okay to NOT have fear”.
Society pushes us to a belief system that “we are only really living if you are living in chaos, drama or fear.” But, this belief system is a program that we have to deprogram from.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
In John 14:27 (AMPC), Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you: My [own] peace I now give…to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]”
Accept that He gives me His peace and accept that I CAN stop allowing myself to be agitated, disturbed, fearful or intimidated.
Instead of society’s program, here is the belief/program we are to subscribe to.
The peace Jesus gives is a peace not based on what is going on in the world around us, not based on if things are all falling into place or not, not based on smooth sailing in everything we do. The peace He gave us passes our understanding; it’s a calm even in or out of a storm, it’s a confidence!
It’s an assured knowing that “all things do work together for good.” An assured knowing it will turn out better than I can imagine. A confident proclamation that my family and I are protected, guided and provided for. It’s a fearless mindset that when it is all said and done, no matter what, I will see Him face to face and know Him as He is.
It is a belief that He knows the numbers of hairs upon my head at all times, and that I am His and He is mine. This is true peace. It is a confidence in His word being unshakeable and unmovable therefore I have nothing to fear, be intimidated by, get agitated from or offended by.
Jesus displayed the peace He gave us time and time again during His walk on this Earth. Let’s look at an example of His peace.
John 8:1-11
8 Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives.2 And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down and taught them.3 And the scribes and Pharisees (note this isn’t just one guy, this a group of both scribe-experts in the law and Pharasies-religious filled leaders) brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, (this word sat means to” force into place”, So we see the energy behind what they were doing was intense)4 they said unto Him, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. (mean literally caught which means someone was looking to find this because this doesn’t happen out in the open. Sound like a set up to me.)5 Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned but what sayest thou?”6 This they said testing Him, that they might have cause to accuse Him. (Pause her to recap. He is surrounded by “all the people” he is teaching, now the scribes and the phrases and of course this woman. It is not silent, it is not free of pressure, it is not a light hearted moment yet He…)But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not.
I am a baseball fan and there is a movie I love to watch called, “For Love of The Game”. The main character is a pitcher for an MLB team. Each time he goes onto the mound to pitch he has a routine. He looks around, hears the roaring of the 10,000 plus fans and sees the team around. He then puts the ball into his glove, staring straight at the catcher, the batter and the umpire and he says in his head, “Clear the mechanism”. The crowd begins to silence, they disappear into a fog and all he sees or hears is the catcher, the batter, the umpire and the ball.
This scene really makes this section of the word live for me because Jesus did this too. This, to me, is an example of “peace that passeth understanding”
7 So when they continued asking Him, He lifted Himself up and said unto them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. (He didn’t wait to see if his point was validated, understood, accepted. He answered the matter then released it.)9 And they who heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the eldest even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing in the midst.10 When Jesus had lifted Himself up and saw none but the woman (I find this interesting. it was when he stood up that he saw none but her. Did he not see them leave or hear them leave? No, he was focused on His peace. Sometimes you have to fight for your peace. The world around you doesn’t not have the right or ability to steal your peace from you.
You are the one that gives it away!
Jesus had every reason to be intimidated, doubtful, agitated, irritated, offended by this set up but instead He put boundaries around His heart and His peace and did not give it away. He maintained His power, His peace.) He said unto her, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?”11 She said, “No man, Lord.” And Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.”
In her article, “God’s Peace is For You”, teacher, Joyce Myers wrote:
“It’s important for us to realize that we have a responsibility to not let our hearts be troubled or afraid. We will never break loose from anything we’re struggling with until we take personal responsibility for where we are now.Most people just want to blame someone or something else for their problems – a bad childhood, their lack of education, their nationality, their personality – and make excuses for the way they are. But we can’t let the things from our past, or present, become an excuse to stay there.
Believe me…I know, I remember when I realized that living with frustration, aggravation and worry really just did me no good at all. All I ever got from being this way was a headache, a back ache, a grouchy attitude, and regret for saying things I never should have said.As I began to take responsibility and say, “God will help me to do something about this if I really want Him to,” things began to change. It wasn’t easy and it didn’t happen overnight, but as I trusted God more and more to help me, and then made right choices to act like Christ instead of the way I felt like acting when I was upset or didn’t get my way, I changed. I learned to live with the peace Jesus gives”
The peace that Philippians 4:7 speaks of is a peace that comes from our decision to believe that He does supply: mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, relationship(al)…thats not a word but I was flowing with the “al” endings. He supplies in all of those categories. Jesus had no doubt that the answer was on the inside. He was confident in His identity and in His Father’s willingness and ability to provide wisdom. In this intense situation, he “Cleared the mechanism”, focused on the Father and got the answer.
Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turneth away wrath; a soft answer turners away wrath”. Man, was this a great example of that.
Last week I had the joy of going to the beach. While there, my daughter and I participated in a yoga class. Now to say the ambiance was amazing is an understatement as we did this ocean front with an amazing instructor who played her steel bowls for us. Something I gained from this excursion was at the end. We were laying on our mats as she played the sounds for us. She had instructed us to relax every part of our body, breath in and out then she said, “Now release everything that does not serve you.”
I had to think about this for a minute because these were not words I usually used so they went through my “discernment” filter. As I thought I realized, she is right. I should not allow anything in my heart to hang around, flutter in the background or in in the forefront that does not serve me, help me be my best, or make me a better version of me. So, I took a moment to see if there was anything I needed to release. I found a thought or two, released it and instantly knew it was gone.
Peace doesn’t hang around with stuff that does not serve us. If it doesn’t belong, let that stuff go.
I want to close with an article I really think you will like:
A Carrot, an Egg, and a Cup of Coffee
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.Her mother took her to the kitchen.She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the daughter replied.Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.When the hour is darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy.The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything—they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
Peace is a confident knowing! The choice is ours, always.
