Stormy Peace

I know the title seems like its an oxymoron, but I believe this is the type of peace that God gives us. Its not the peace that many people are looking for - you know - that peace that makes everything feel like nirvana. That peace that makes everything fall by the wayside and they can live in harmony with everyone and everything. In the world we live, and the world that they lived in, this is not always possible. If you are like me, you might have thought that God dangled this hope of inner peace out there like a golden carrot and if we searched long enough and loved well enough, He would eventually relent and give us this peace.

On the contrary, I believe this peace - also known as Shalom - is an inner peace in the midst of the storm. It is not a promise that everything is going to be smooth sailing - which by the way, if you were ever told that if you were to follow God everything would be, I apologize for the lie. Its about now I think I should tell you that I do believe we serve a loving God - its just that He is more concerned with our character than our comfort.

Think of a tree. I have been told that if a tree is "babied" while in the early growth stages, it won't last very long. Trees need "tough love" in order to make the harsh winters. We need God's tough love to make it through those stormy times in our lives.

It is in these times our character is built. We begin to see God's hope being established in our lives, not a false hope of what the world tries to offer, but a fulfilling hope. See the world's counterfeit hope only leads to disappointment, depression, bitterness, emptiness, foolishness, etc. However; God's hope, gives us an eternal perspective on life.

The peace that God gives us is a peace that goes beyond all understanding. It is a peace that gives an internal resting point to know that it is He that wills and acts according to His purpose. I don't have to envy those that have more than I do, or have accomplished more than I have, because I am only accountable to God and what He has given me to live up to. This, my friends, gives life to my bones. This allows me to enjoy the journey - knowing that there is not a destination point in life.

Like I stated earlier, this peace gives us an eternal perspective. I don't have to worry about getting to Heaven, because if I do what the Lord has asked me to do today, that will take care of itself. When I have peace like this, I don't have to worry if God has enough to go around. I have peace knowing that He is faithful and just and that all of His promises are yes and amen.

I can't tell you how freeing this understanding has been to me over the past several weeks as it has been brewing inside of me! I know now, more then ever, that God loves me for me. I am a work in progress, and even though I have many crutches that I need to lay down, God loves me through them and just as much as Billy Graham.

See, the other thing that is really grasping at me is that its not what I do, but who I am. In the Bible, the recorded words of God are the same to His son, "This is my son, whom I love, and am well pleased with." God gives me an identity in Him first - you are my son. His love, and my love for my kids, comes from this identity. It is one of the hardest things I have had to learn (and in most cases, still am). I am God's son, I am God's friend.

When we begin to see God from this perspective, we see Him as He truly is...a loving father. Go in stormy peace...Mike