Are You at Peace?
There were no arguments with my friends, for my friends were somewhere else that day. There were no worries – lunch would be ready when I was called into eat, the house would be there, other people more wise and more powerful than I took care of everything. My parents were happy to look out the front window from time to time – I don’t even remember them checking on me. The biggest problem that arose was when the large black beetle ran across my road – but he kept running, and I let him go. My life was at peace.
How is your life? Are you at peace? Are you able to relax and let time pass without the panic of thinking, “What must I do today? What are today’s deadlines, meetings, problems to solve?”
The Apostle Paul wrote several times about peace. Not the peace that comes when armies do not cross the land, but the personal peace that happens when we are safe in the arms of God.
The surveys today tell us that we are not at peace. About one in six Americans take some form of legal mood-altering drug, mostly for anxiety or depression. Another 1 in 8 meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder. 1 in 5 Americans over 12 years old use illegal drugs. In addition, there are many people who are anxious, depressed, or have trouble sleeping who have not sought help from the psychologists or from chemicals, keeping things together but not truly at peace. And these surveys were from 2018, before the COVID lockdown and the wild events of 2020. Where do you fall on this list? How much at peace are you?
The Lord is Near
In his letter to the Philippians, beginning in Chapter 4, Paul writes about a couple of women, Euodia and Syntyche, who apparently are having disputes about Christ. Paul urges them to be of the “same mind in the Lord” and asks the recipients to help these women.Paul then gives us this wonderful passage:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
To Paul, it is enough for us to remember that Jesus is near. Therefore, we should rejoice in the Lord always. He emphasizes this by saying it again. Rejoice! If we are upset, if there are problems, if anything is bothering us, we are to pray to God about it.
When I taught at Parkersburg Catholic High School, in the teacher’s restroom there was a poster which said, “If it is big enough to worry about, it is big enough to pray about.” This is sound, based upon Paul’s teachings. “If it is big enough to worry about, it is big enough to pray about.”
But I want you to notice something buried in Paul’s sentence. We are to pray and present our requests to God with thanksgiving! It is a reminder that our lives are never completely gloomy – there are always things which God has provided us that we should be thankful for. And there is a key point in removing our anxiety.
After all, if we will remember all the times God has answered our prayers – or simply given good things to us – then we don’t adopt the attitude of Chicken Little. You will remember Chicken Little, who was hit in the head by an acorn and told everyone that “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!”
Chicken Little would have done well to remember that God has always been there for her.
Think About Good Things
Paul, after telling us to pray with thanksgiving about every situation, then gives this advice:
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Have you noticed that government-funded studies often do the equivalent of telling us that most horses have four legs? I’ve found it isn’t just an American phenomenon. A British study recently discovered that people who lived with more trees around them were happier than those who lived in concrete-covered areas.
Duh! The study concluded that people should walk in parks or the woods more often, that it would make them feel better, less anxious, and more peaceful.
Why? Perhaps it is because trees are lovely. “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
You know, Paul has a good point here. Our peace is lost when we think about lies, when we think about the vulgar, when we think about the wrongs of life, the impure, the ugly, those things we don’t admire. We lose our peace when we think about failures, and those events that we are ashamed of. It is the opposite that brings peace - “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
And the promise that Paul gives us? “And the God of peace will be with you.”
Our God is the god of beauty, of truth, of goodness. He is not the god of ugliness, of lies, of evil. Our soul achieves peace when we come close to God and begins to take on the attributes of God. That is why we are to think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” These are all attributes of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
When you were a child, did you fall asleep in the arms of your father, your mother, your grandfather, your grandmother? Did their warm embrace bring you to peace and rest? Were you carried into the house from the car in their arms, snuggling down secure and happy?
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Have you noticed that government-funded studies often do the equivalent of telling us that most horses have four legs? I’ve found it isn’t just an American phenomenon. A British study recently discovered that people who lived with more trees around them were happier than those who lived in concrete-covered areas.
Duh! The study concluded that people should walk in parks or the woods more often, that it would make them feel better, less anxious, and more peaceful.
Why? Perhaps it is because trees are lovely. “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
You know, Paul has a good point here. Our peace is lost when we think about lies, when we think about the vulgar, when we think about the wrongs of life, the impure, the ugly, those things we don’t admire. We lose our peace when we think about failures, and those events that we are ashamed of. It is the opposite that brings peace - “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
And the promise that Paul gives us? “And the God of peace will be with you.”
Our God is the god of beauty, of truth, of goodness. He is not the god of ugliness, of lies, of evil. Our soul achieves peace when we come close to God and begins to take on the attributes of God. That is why we are to think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” These are all attributes of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
When you were a child, did you fall asleep in the arms of your father, your mother, your grandfather, your grandmother? Did their warm embrace bring you to peace and rest? Were you carried into the house from the car in their arms, snuggling down secure and happy?
Escaping Stress
We lose that peacefulness as adults, for we worry about the bad things in the world. We feel vulnerable to COVID-19, we are upset by violence, arguments cause our adrenaline to flow and we feel stressed. We don’t like being around these things – and yet, where can we go to escape the stress in today’s world?
Many people have turned to chemicals. But chemicals have a nasty habit of turning around to cause us more problems. For example, caffeine, like the simple caffeine found in a cup of coffee will make most people slightly, all-so-slightly anxious as it speeds up our metabolism. Our body takes that speed up as a signal to be more alert, looking around for danger. If you have several cups of coffee, you probably know about becoming jittery or even more subject to jumping when someone in a quiet room begins to talk suddenly. Even a low level of caffeine from a daily cup of coffee or tea or a bite of chocolate increases our anxiety. I know. A couple of years ago when I cut out drinking tea and cola, I lost thirty pounds in six months because I wasn’t as anxious – and I eat when I worry. Maybe you do, too. Cut out the caffeine.
Other chemicals like nicotine make you irritable and anxious when its been a while since your last dose... er, cigarette. If you’ve been around someone who has been on illegal drugs, their anxiety level goes through the roof as the effects of the drug dose wears off – We call it withdrawal, and it is the main reason people stay hooked on the drugs. The same happens, just less intensely, with the legal prescription drugs – your body can tell when the drugs are wearing off, and your anxiety level goes up until your next dose. But don’t quit the legal drugs without talking to your doctor first.
The stress of our modern world leads to much anxiety by generating subtle fears. When we become fearful, our body begins to put out stress hormones, chemicals that prepare the body to run or fight. Our heart rate speeds up, our blood is more likely to clot, our reactions intensify, our hearing and eyesight improve – we are ready to run from the tiger or the wolves and ready to kick them in the nose as we climb a tree. But when the stress is a worry about our job, our children’s school, the chance of a riot in our town, a vague worry about our retirement income, the news of friends dying from a virus, the stress hormones can flow for days and weeks and months on end – and that harms our hearts, our kidneys, our sleep, our brains, our peace. Long-term stress has been shown to harm much of our body through increased blood pressure, higher blood sugar levels, and lack of rest. We need peace to live a long, happy life.
Many people have turned to other religions, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism, practicing Hindu yoga and Buddhist mindfulness. These religions have taught that life is suffering and so they have developed techniques to avoid suffering and anxiety. They search for answers, but really only find partial answers, for while these religions offer some good things, they do not have the whole truth as Christianity has offered for 2000 years. Christianity points out that suffering is only a part of life – life has much goodness in it – and anything that causes suffering is caused by human sin. God is the source of all goodness.
Many people have turned to chemicals. But chemicals have a nasty habit of turning around to cause us more problems. For example, caffeine, like the simple caffeine found in a cup of coffee will make most people slightly, all-so-slightly anxious as it speeds up our metabolism. Our body takes that speed up as a signal to be more alert, looking around for danger. If you have several cups of coffee, you probably know about becoming jittery or even more subject to jumping when someone in a quiet room begins to talk suddenly. Even a low level of caffeine from a daily cup of coffee or tea or a bite of chocolate increases our anxiety. I know. A couple of years ago when I cut out drinking tea and cola, I lost thirty pounds in six months because I wasn’t as anxious – and I eat when I worry. Maybe you do, too. Cut out the caffeine.
Other chemicals like nicotine make you irritable and anxious when its been a while since your last dose... er, cigarette. If you’ve been around someone who has been on illegal drugs, their anxiety level goes through the roof as the effects of the drug dose wears off – We call it withdrawal, and it is the main reason people stay hooked on the drugs. The same happens, just less intensely, with the legal prescription drugs – your body can tell when the drugs are wearing off, and your anxiety level goes up until your next dose. But don’t quit the legal drugs without talking to your doctor first.
The stress of our modern world leads to much anxiety by generating subtle fears. When we become fearful, our body begins to put out stress hormones, chemicals that prepare the body to run or fight. Our heart rate speeds up, our blood is more likely to clot, our reactions intensify, our hearing and eyesight improve – we are ready to run from the tiger or the wolves and ready to kick them in the nose as we climb a tree. But when the stress is a worry about our job, our children’s school, the chance of a riot in our town, a vague worry about our retirement income, the news of friends dying from a virus, the stress hormones can flow for days and weeks and months on end – and that harms our hearts, our kidneys, our sleep, our brains, our peace. Long-term stress has been shown to harm much of our body through increased blood pressure, higher blood sugar levels, and lack of rest. We need peace to live a long, happy life.
Many people have turned to other religions, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism, practicing Hindu yoga and Buddhist mindfulness. These religions have taught that life is suffering and so they have developed techniques to avoid suffering and anxiety. They search for answers, but really only find partial answers, for while these religions offer some good things, they do not have the whole truth as Christianity has offered for 2000 years. Christianity points out that suffering is only a part of life – life has much goodness in it – and anything that causes suffering is caused by human sin. God is the source of all goodness.
Jesus Defeated Death
For from the beginning, Christians pointed out that the root cause of all anxiety is a fear of death. Death is what we fear – whether we say we are afraid of homelessness, of unemployment, of loneliness, of poor health, behind the fear we name is the fear we have, which is the fear of death. And Jesus Christ was the solution to death.
For when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, was arrested, beaten, and crucified onto death for that claim, He took with His death all of our sins. And then, on Easter morning, He arose from Death, having totally defeated Death, and promises eternal life to all who will follow Him. His Resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God and that His promises are true. We who follow Him shall live forever – Death has no power over us except as a time of sleep. Temporary Sleep. A temporary rest. A short intermission between Act One and Act Two of our eternal life.
Beyond that time-out is our resurrection, promised by the sinless One, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. And remembering this promise is the key to throwing away our anxiety. For with what can you threaten a person who will live eternally? As Jesus said in Matthew 10:28 28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”
In Galatians Chapter 5, Paul speaks us the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to Christians during baptism, as the hands are laid upon the new Christian after the water has been applied, and the Holy Spirit is asked to come into the heart of that new Christian. And what does the Spirit do for us? If we listen to the Spirit’s gentle, whispered voice and do what the Spirit asks, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. “
Notice that this is the fruit of the Spirit – it is what happens when we continually learn to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit – we begin to love, we show joy, we have peace, we show forbearance or patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Too many times I’ve heard these fruits of the Spirit preached as goals for the Christian believer. No, these are too hard to achieve on our own – these come, though, when we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and follow the gentle words of the Spirit. “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. “
For when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, was arrested, beaten, and crucified onto death for that claim, He took with His death all of our sins. And then, on Easter morning, He arose from Death, having totally defeated Death, and promises eternal life to all who will follow Him. His Resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God and that His promises are true. We who follow Him shall live forever – Death has no power over us except as a time of sleep. Temporary Sleep. A temporary rest. A short intermission between Act One and Act Two of our eternal life.
Beyond that time-out is our resurrection, promised by the sinless One, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. And remembering this promise is the key to throwing away our anxiety. For with what can you threaten a person who will live eternally? As Jesus said in Matthew 10:28 28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”
In Galatians Chapter 5, Paul speaks us the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to Christians during baptism, as the hands are laid upon the new Christian after the water has been applied, and the Holy Spirit is asked to come into the heart of that new Christian. And what does the Spirit do for us? If we listen to the Spirit’s gentle, whispered voice and do what the Spirit asks, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. “
Notice that this is the fruit of the Spirit – it is what happens when we continually learn to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit – we begin to love, we show joy, we have peace, we show forbearance or patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Too many times I’ve heard these fruits of the Spirit preached as goals for the Christian believer. No, these are too hard to achieve on our own – these come, though, when we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and follow the gentle words of the Spirit. “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. “
Turn Off the TV
Would you have peace in your life? Then the Apostle Paul says to remember that you have been saved from permanent death through the sacrifice of Jesus. You have the Holy Spirit, which will give you eternal life and the fruits of that Spirit – if you will listen to the Spirit – instead of the insistent voices of the world who continue to speak of chaos, death, gloom and destruction. Turn off the evening news. Turn off television shows and movies that are filled with fighting, for our minds were created to watch fighting as a form of protection – for when a man fights with a wolf in your home, it is important to know who has won so you can run away properly. Tension, fighting, conflict attracts our attention and that is why the very smart people who write and produce these shows emphasize that conflict – whether it be a spy thriller, a family drama, or the evening news. Conflict holds our attention – but conflict also destroys our peace.
If you want to find peace in your life, turn off the television and spend an hour each evening reading. Read your Bible. Read good Christian authors – ancient authors like Augustine of Hippo, Irenaeus, Jerome – medieval authors like Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, Thomas Aquinas. Later authors like John Wesley, C.S. Lewis, CK Chesterton, and John Piper.
If you want to find peace in your life, turn off the television and spend an hour each evening reading. Read your Bible. Read good Christian authors – ancient authors like Augustine of Hippo, Irenaeus, Jerome – medieval authors like Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, Thomas Aquinas. Later authors like John Wesley, C.S. Lewis, CK Chesterton, and John Piper.
God is With Us
But there is another level of peace beyond removing the daily stress of the news, and our daily worries, beyond the peace that comes in saying, “If I die I’ll be with Jesus, so what can harm me?”
That is the peace of knowing that the powerful transcendent God who created the Universe has not only promised us eternal life, but that same God loves us each tremendously. The theologians call this the immanence of God. The transcendence of God is the idea that God is in charge, all-powerful, Creator of the Universe, always everywhere, larger than the Universe. A Being much more wise and more powerful than we are has everything under control, just as we felt that our parents or grandparents had everything under control when we were children. That is the transcendence of God. But the immanence of God is that God is also right beside each of us, sitting or standing beside us, listening to us, giving a hug to each of us wherever we are if we ask for that hug. God is here, right now. And that is immensely important to understand for our peace.
For there is another part to the stress in our lives. It is the stress of feeling that we are alone. Have you ever felt alone in a crowd? I have. It can become a harmful feeling. But when we realize that God is not only that big, powerful Being somewhere beyond the sky, but is also right here beside us, caring deeply about each one of us, listening to our prayers even more intently than a good parent or grandparent listens to the troubles of a child – we can begin to realize that we are never alone.
Peace comes when we realize that nothing important happens this year or next year except when someone says, “NOW I choose to follow Jesus”, for that is the only thing that has eternal significance.
Peace comes when we realize that God can replace the damaged pickup, the broken dishes, the water-soaked carpet, the broken marriage, the injured kidney, the tumor-ridden lungs – as long as we are trying to follow His Son. And God knows our intent. God knows if we are trying to follow the path His Son laid out, even if we stray from the path from time to time. It is only when we completely walk away from the path and don’t care that God stops waiting on us.
I’ve given away two hundred dollars to someone I could not trust, but the voice of the Holy Spirit told me to give the money away. Within 24 hours, I received a surprise check from another person for two hundred dollars. God took care of us.
Saundra and I gave away five chairs after we arrived here to a young woman who needed them. Within two days, we were given two nice recliners. God always takes care of us.
Peace comes with knowing that God will take care of you. Peace comes with knowing that God does not need our help, but enjoys watching us help. Peace comes with knowing that God has a plan even when the bills are overdue, even when the employer shut down, even when one of you is in the hospital, even when your spouse walks out, even when hospice has been called. Peace is there when you accept that God is in charge, knows much more than we do, and…when we completely accept God’s will.
John Wesley spoke of complete sanctification – complete holiness. It is when we finally come to the point where we truly don’t want anything in our lives except God’s will. And that isn’t easy, for we always seem like we have a better plan than God has. We’re always trying to tell God which way to turn, how to handle the situation, which way to fix the problem – and that, my friends is truly the biggest barrier to our peace.
That is the peace of knowing that the powerful transcendent God who created the Universe has not only promised us eternal life, but that same God loves us each tremendously. The theologians call this the immanence of God. The transcendence of God is the idea that God is in charge, all-powerful, Creator of the Universe, always everywhere, larger than the Universe. A Being much more wise and more powerful than we are has everything under control, just as we felt that our parents or grandparents had everything under control when we were children. That is the transcendence of God. But the immanence of God is that God is also right beside each of us, sitting or standing beside us, listening to us, giving a hug to each of us wherever we are if we ask for that hug. God is here, right now. And that is immensely important to understand for our peace.
For there is another part to the stress in our lives. It is the stress of feeling that we are alone. Have you ever felt alone in a crowd? I have. It can become a harmful feeling. But when we realize that God is not only that big, powerful Being somewhere beyond the sky, but is also right here beside us, caring deeply about each one of us, listening to our prayers even more intently than a good parent or grandparent listens to the troubles of a child – we can begin to realize that we are never alone.
- We are not alone when we sit alone in our home, isolated by social distancing requirements. God is there on the couch beside us, listening to our every word.
- We are not alone when we walk through our neighborhood, listening to the birds sing as God directs us.
- We are not alone when the rough family in the neighborhood is shouting at each other, threatening each other and our friends, for God is there with us, reminding us that God is in control of this, too.
- We are not alone when our national leaders and news media and celebrities argue and fight, when foreign governments threaten war and nuclear missiles. We are not alone when the world seems to spin out of control. God is still there, right beside us, reminding us that one day He’ll take us home – it may be decades from now, it may be this evening, but God will be there at the end of this Act and again at the beginning of the next Act in our eternal life.
God has the Battles
Peace comes when we realize that we are not alone and do not have to fight the battles. God will fight the battles for us, for God loves us even more than we love ourselves.Peace comes when we realize that nothing important happens this year or next year except when someone says, “NOW I choose to follow Jesus”, for that is the only thing that has eternal significance.
Peace comes when we realize that God can replace the damaged pickup, the broken dishes, the water-soaked carpet, the broken marriage, the injured kidney, the tumor-ridden lungs – as long as we are trying to follow His Son. And God knows our intent. God knows if we are trying to follow the path His Son laid out, even if we stray from the path from time to time. It is only when we completely walk away from the path and don’t care that God stops waiting on us.
I’ve given away two hundred dollars to someone I could not trust, but the voice of the Holy Spirit told me to give the money away. Within 24 hours, I received a surprise check from another person for two hundred dollars. God took care of us.
Saundra and I gave away five chairs after we arrived here to a young woman who needed them. Within two days, we were given two nice recliners. God always takes care of us.
Peace comes with knowing that God will take care of you. Peace comes with knowing that God does not need our help, but enjoys watching us help. Peace comes with knowing that God has a plan even when the bills are overdue, even when the employer shut down, even when one of you is in the hospital, even when your spouse walks out, even when hospice has been called. Peace is there when you accept that God is in charge, knows much more than we do, and…when we completely accept God’s will.
John Wesley spoke of complete sanctification – complete holiness. It is when we finally come to the point where we truly don’t want anything in our lives except God’s will. And that isn’t easy, for we always seem like we have a better plan than God has. We’re always trying to tell God which way to turn, how to handle the situation, which way to fix the problem – and that, my friends is truly the biggest barrier to our peace.
Let God Drive
I came across this writing from Anne Lamott: “I heard an old man speak once, someone who had been sober for fifty years, a very prominent doctor. He said that he’d finally figured out a few years ago that his profound sense of control, in the world and over his life, is another addiction and a total illusion. He said that when he sees little kids sitting in the back seat of cars, in those car seats that have steering wheels, with grim expressions of concentration on their faces, clearly convinced that their efforts are causing the car to do whatever it is doing, he thinks of himself and his relationship with God: God who drives along silently, gently amused, in the real driver’s seat.” (Operating Instructions)
As long as we insist we know more about how the future should flow than God does – we will not have peace. We will only have peace when we settle into the ride of life, knowing that it isn’t going to be the Lazy River, but it’s going to be the Runaway Log Flume Ride, with terrifying drops and swooping curves – when we settle into that ride, sit back and relax knowing that God designed the ride that way and has a nice safe pool for us at the bottom. That is when we have peace. For it is our desire to control things that takes away our peace. Our desire for control takes away our peace.
Have you ever seen a loving father toss his beloved child up into the air and then catch her and repeat this five or six times? The child holds her breath and then giggles after every toss, right? For the child trusts the father.
Do you trust your Heavenly Father to catch you when He tosses you? Do you see His presence and His plan in each toss?
To have peace, we must have spare time. Unplanned time, time with God, time to sit and dream and talk with God.
The Dutch talk about “niksen” Niks means “nothing”. Add the -en and it becomes a verb. Doing nothing. Sitting without an agenda. Day-dreaming. Talking with God informally. Talking and listening. Niksen.
Rigidly schedule at least 15 minutes a day to do nothing. Intentionally become “unbusy” for 15 minutes a day. It is not a time for planning. It is not a time for reading a chapter of your Bible. It is not a time for a nap. It isn’t time for television or radio or Facebook or phone games. It is a time to let go of our need to control the universe, to control anything.
It is truly a time to sit and daydream. Sit in the sun or watching out the window. VEGE! Enjoy a time of doing nothing and letting God handle the world around you. In fact, you might start by setting a timer and saying, “Ok, God, you’ve got the next 15 minutes – You can run the Universe without my help.” And then, just watch God in action. At least 15 minutes a day. Part of humbleness is knowing that the world can operate without your help for 15 minutes a day. Learn this humbleness 15 minutes every day. Become un-busy. Let God handle the world. Know that you aren’t needed, but you are welcome to join in. Do nothing for 15 minutes. Niksen.
If you do, you will have peace.
Share that peace with others by pointing out God’s presence and God’s plan to your friends, neighbors, and family.
Father God,
I pray for the people of this church and all those watching and listening online and on the FM radio. Let them see Your presence and Your plan in their lives. Let them learn to trust You as they are tossed into the air by the life You have given them. Let them feel Your presence beside them every day. And help them learn to listen to Your Holy Spirit and read Your Holy Scriptures, so they will recognize You more quickly each day. This we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, Your Son. Amen
Song: I’ve got Peace like a River
As long as we insist we know more about how the future should flow than God does – we will not have peace. We will only have peace when we settle into the ride of life, knowing that it isn’t going to be the Lazy River, but it’s going to be the Runaway Log Flume Ride, with terrifying drops and swooping curves – when we settle into that ride, sit back and relax knowing that God designed the ride that way and has a nice safe pool for us at the bottom. That is when we have peace. For it is our desire to control things that takes away our peace. Our desire for control takes away our peace.
Have you ever seen a loving father toss his beloved child up into the air and then catch her and repeat this five or six times? The child holds her breath and then giggles after every toss, right? For the child trusts the father.
Do you trust your Heavenly Father to catch you when He tosses you? Do you see His presence and His plan in each toss?
One Final Aspect of Peace.
This is the most difficult part for most people. This is the advanced level of peace, kind of a "post-graduate" level of peace. This is only for those who are really beginning to “get it”.
To have peace, we must have spare time. Unplanned time, time with God, time to sit and dream and talk with God.
The Dutch talk about “niksen” Niks means “nothing”. Add the -en and it becomes a verb. Doing nothing. Sitting without an agenda. Day-dreaming. Talking with God informally. Talking and listening. Niksen.
Rigidly schedule at least 15 minutes a day to do nothing. Intentionally become “unbusy” for 15 minutes a day. It is not a time for planning. It is not a time for reading a chapter of your Bible. It is not a time for a nap. It isn’t time for television or radio or Facebook or phone games. It is a time to let go of our need to control the universe, to control anything.
It is truly a time to sit and daydream. Sit in the sun or watching out the window. VEGE! Enjoy a time of doing nothing and letting God handle the world around you. In fact, you might start by setting a timer and saying, “Ok, God, you’ve got the next 15 minutes – You can run the Universe without my help.” And then, just watch God in action. At least 15 minutes a day. Part of humbleness is knowing that the world can operate without your help for 15 minutes a day. Learn this humbleness 15 minutes every day. Become un-busy. Let God handle the world. Know that you aren’t needed, but you are welcome to join in. Do nothing for 15 minutes. Niksen.
If you do, you will have peace.
Share that peace with others by pointing out God’s presence and God’s plan to your friends, neighbors, and family.
Father God,
I pray for the people of this church and all those watching and listening online and on the FM radio. Let them see Your presence and Your plan in their lives. Let them learn to trust You as they are tossed into the air by the life You have given them. Let them feel Your presence beside them every day. And help them learn to listen to Your Holy Spirit and read Your Holy Scriptures, so they will recognize You more quickly each day. This we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, Your Son. Amen
Song: I’ve got Peace like a River
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