Peace in Uncertain Times

Someone has said that the true picture of peace  isn’t the man on a boat crossing a  placid lake  with the gentle breeze blowing, but true peace is pictured by a bird nestled in the cleft of a mighty rock while the tumultuous storm  passes by.

I usually try to make my life look like the calm lake — without a ripple — no stress, no disappointments, but regardless of what I try to do — God still  sends difficult situations my way– tumultuous storms, so that I will run under His mighty wing for protection and will become strong going through the difficulty — but always with Him near.

Right now — at my work — we are expecting reorganization and downsizing to take place over the next couple of months. Many people are  anxious about how it will impact them personally and whether they will be employed six months from now. It is disconcerting when you have done your very best for years and you know that suddenly you may be on the street – so to speak.

For other readers of this blog –I know that  physical ailments have caused months or years of suffering and they now face each day with limited strength to just carry on normal responsibilities.  The storm  they faced was fierce and even now the wind blows uncomfortably much of the time.

Some people – in order to find solace in their situation, decide to go it on their own — just grit their teeth and try to make it through with their own determination.  That is not peace – that is determination.  Still others make up their own religion, based upon what they want God to look like. Usually their god is very lenient and agrees with them on what is okay and what is not. They have faith in something they have made up in their mind and their hope is built on a sand castle, that washes away with the tide. Still others, in some cultures, might carve a piece of wood and provide offerings to this homemade deity hoping to appease it’s touchy personality, allowing them to avoid any punishment. The problem is that no god that we conjure up in our mind or that we carve with our hands, will be of any real help to us.

In reality, the only way to have true peace in the middle of the storm, is to discover the true God of Heaven,  who has revealed Himself to man through the prophets, the apostles and through His own dear Son Jesus Christ.  God has not been silent. From the time of Adam to the time of Abraham, God was speaking; with Moses and the burning bush; through the nation of Israel as they inherited the promised land; through  David, the Psalmist - a man after God’s own heart; through our Lord Jesus as He taught us of Heaven during His short visit to earth to die for us on the cross; through the Apostles -  men of God who penned the New Testament Scriptures through the Holy Spirit— God has not been silent, but has declared His Glory, His character and His expectations for His creation.

Our responsibility is to come to learn what He is like – not to make Him into our image, but to see Him for who He really is and then to follow Him in faithful obedience and total trust.

The person who does this finds Him  to be a mighty fortress — a place  to hide from the storm. When the storm passes, and  we come out from the safe place, we find that we are stronger, our faith is deeper and that He never left us for a moment.

Jesus said — "My peace I give unto you — not as the world gives, give I unto you. In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer – for I have overcome the world"

He also said that the person who hears His words and doesn’t obey them, is like a man who builds his house upon the sand. When the winds blow and the rains come — the house crashes down, because it was not built upon a solid foundation.

The person who hears His words and acts upon them in obedience — He is like a person who builds his house upon a rock.  When the storm comes — the winds blow, the rains plummet the house — it still stands, because it was built upon the rock.

 

 The real rock is the God of Heaven who has revealed Himself to us and His Son Jesus who provided eternal life for all who will believe.

Are you seeking to know Him more today?  Don’t wait until the middle of the storm to seek the mighty rock — He is waiting for each of us to draw near today and He will not let us down.

Keep looking up!

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