Peace Like A River
The sails whip wildly in the billow of wind, as the air becomes heavy with rain. Sunlight fades, overwhelmed by the growing grey, stripping the sky of its beautiful, blue tones. Lightening in the distance is not a signal of security, but an ominous foreboding.
The fisherman scramble to secure the mast and steady the rocking. Waves gain strength and confidence, growing to heights that threaten to capsize the small vessel. Fear grips the heart of the men, as they look from face to face, begging for assurance to drive back the dread.
Soaked hair drips down on shoulders, where muscles are tight and tense. Shivering from the cold downpour, clothes clinging to their bodies, they move as quickly as possible in an effort to stabilize the situation.
How do you wrangle and tame something; however, you have zero control over? When facing a beast more powerful than yourself, helplessness threatens to suffocate you and cut off the last of the shallow inhales and exhales coming from your weary lungs.
The boat begins to take on water from the crashing waves, bringing with it a fresh surge of panic. They were going to die. Shouting to one another, they stumble to the stern of the boat. In the midst of overwhelming chaos, their Rabbi lay sleeping.
“Wake up! Get up!” Jesus opens His weary eyes and stares at them all. “Master, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Speaking not a word to them, He arose, surveyed the situation and said, “Hush now! Be still!”
Instantly the roaring, racket that was swirling around them stop, and the waters became as smooth as glass. The silence is almost as deafening as the cacophony of noise from before, but the stillness is like an inviting, warm blanket, wrapping around their exhausted bodies, bringing a welcomed refuge.
Eyes wide in wonder, they stare first at Him and then to each other. “Who is this, that even the wind and waves obey Him?”
Peace
A word that can be incredibly allusive, yet we chase it constantly throughout our lives. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the word as such:
a state of tranquility or quiet
freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
harmony in personal relations
a state or period of mutual concord between governments
From personal to public, public to political, everyone is seeking calm and order. It is a desire interwoven deep within us, a planting not of our own making, for peace is never found in the things of this world.
Sadly, in the day we live, it seems we lose peace more than we gain. The constant rush, striving, and hurried events of our days, do not make space for feeling calm and tranquil. Instead; anxiety, worry, depression and fear are powerful forces that seem to plague so many of our friends and family members, maybe even ourselves.
How, dear friends, can we wrangle something that seems so out of control? What strength is needed to tame the emotions of chaos and disorder? We must learn from the example the disciples set for us in the story above, which is found in both Matthew chapter 8 and Mark chapter 4. They sought out the Rabbi.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)
We must learn to remain focused on Christ and seek Him first always. The answer seems so easy, it sounds like it will never work, but that is the wonder of our Lord. He takes what is complicated and makes it, Beautifully Simple.
The problem is, we have so many distractions, our attention is easily pulled away from the One and only person Who can give us what we seek. Busy work schedules, Facebook, kids, Netflix, house chores, on and on the list can go, all of which are not necessarily bad, but are definitely attention suckers. So how do we need to handle all the noise around us?
“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)
Die to yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to control your thoughts and actions. Only the Prince of Peace can give you the still waters you long for in your life. The disciples ran around frantic, trying to take control of a chaotic situation, until finally realizing they could not change anything about their circumstances. In surrender, and wisdom, they approached the Master. Some of us need to go to the throne room, approach the Master and surrender at His feet.
He is the source of everything calm and lovely in our lives. When we allow our thoughts to be centered on Christ and His teachings, there is something miraculous that happens throughout our day. We remain at ease.
Have a day where your mind is a buzz of activity that will not stop, causing you to feel completely overwhelmed? Pull up some worship music and begin to listen. I have no doubt your brain will settle and reach a place of stillness.
Life hitting you hard with worries and struggles, to the point you just don’t know if you have the strength to take another step? Download a Bible reading app and take in the power of the words of God. Feel the tension begin to leave your body, as the scriptures wash over you, leaving you with a peaceful heart.
When we walk in the ways of the Lord’s commandments, follow His precepts while striving for obedience, the end reward is peace. This is not just some lovely opinion I am giving to make you feel good. It is a promise straight from God.
“And the effect of righteousness will be peace [internal and external], and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.” (Isaiah 32:17)
The biggest killer of peace is disobedience. Living outside the will of the Father brings nothing but stress and destruction. Think about it. When you attempt to conduct your days as you see fit, and do not seek counsel from the Lord, most of the time, you are fighting against the Creator, Himself and His plans for you. It is a struggle you will never win, and one that will leave you worn and weary, day after day.
When we walk in total trust and surrender to Christ; however, peace is allowed to flow over our hearts and minds. The ways of the Lord are designed to bring about comfort and safety. Why do we push so hard against the boundary lines? (I have a post called Boundary Lines I encourage you to read)
Dear friends, there will never be peace in the struggle. You will not find calm waters in the midst of a storm. Society has enough crazy antics, it doesn’t need any help. Don’t you know, you are actually creating chaos, when you choose to walk in rebel? Are you worn out yet?
If so, come to Jesus in repentance and purpose your heart to chase after the things of His kingdom moving forward. Keep your everything fixed on His face, and do not move from that place. Pray, worship, serve, study and grow in faith.
Allow your thoughts to drift to the Lord often throughout your day. Speak with Him continuously in prayer. Study His scriptures and strive to obey and follow His leadings. When we practice these things in our lives, we will begin to experience a wonderful calm taking over.
We stop worrying so much when troubles arise, because we trust the Lord will get us through. Fear does not overwhelm us, because we have confidence in Christ Jesus and hold fast to all of His promises. By growing our relationship with Jesus, we make room for the Prince of Peace to dwell and work.
The more you practice mediating on God’s law and actively living out His commandments, the sooner you will be living beside still waters and laying down in quiet, grassy meadows. I don’t know about you, but I will take that over a raging, tempest any day!