Peace

 

I read an article the other day about a king who wanted a painting that depicted “Peace”. The one he finally chose was a picture that had mountains that were rugged and bare. Above them was an angry sky with rain falling and lightning flashing and down the side of the mountains tumbled a waterfall. This picture didn’t look peaceful at all but the king chose it because he had noticed that behind the waterfall there was a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in spite of the rush of angry water, she sat on her nest—in perfect peace. You see, peace does not mean that we have to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the middle of all these things and still be calm in your heart.

To be at peace in difficult situations we really need outside help; Paul, although in prison, said that “in whatsoever state he found himself he had learned to be content”, of course he was relying on the fact that he was doing God’s will and that was his aim in life. In chapter 4 verse 7 of his letter to the Philippians he says: “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”. (New Living Translation)

Now I had been shown that bible verse some 60 years ago but I never realised that when it said “heart” it was referring to that lump of flesh in our chest, not some “feeling”. In other words, he is saying that not worrying, and therefore being in a state of peace, will actually keep your heart healthy and prevent your mind from having a nervous breakdown. I only realised the truth of this when I went into cardiac arrest some 13 years ago and after being revived was sent to St Vincent’s hospital in Sydney. The Cardiologist there said: “How come you have blocked arteries around your heart? Your weight is normal, you have never smoked or drank alcohol, you have lived an active healthy life on a farm, you just don’t fit the pattern! Therefore, for this to have happened to you there must have been a lot of stress in your life”. He was right, (I am ashamed to say). Because as a Christian I had been ignoring that instruction to “not worry” and paid the penalty by having 5 heart by-passes. After all, God who made us should know what is good or bad for us and we shouldn’t ignore his instructions in the New Testament. Because worry never achieved any worthwhile result, and we all know this, but it is hard to “Let go and let God take over” isn’t it? We are God’s children and I think we can learn from watching a little baby like Evie
Pratten here with her mum (Jackie). She may be crying in her cot, but when mum or dad come along and pick her up, the crying stops immediately. Why? She hasn’t yet been fed, her nappy hasn’t yet been changed. What makes the difference then? Why did she stop crying? The answer is that a baby Instinctively knows that its parents love it and have the ability to solve its problems. That’s why.

The person stranded on a ledge half way down a cliff face, has a different problem; but needs similar trust when a rescue Helicopter lowers a paramedic on a rope; the stranded person knows that he must let go of the rock face and cling tightly to the paramedic; trusting both him and the rope, complete faith is essential or he will just have to stay on that precarious ledge. The same type of thing applies to you and me; every day activities usually don’t worry us too much or cause us to stress out. No, it is only when we find ourselves out of our depth with problems that we cannot effectively handle that we become really worried. At that point we should implement the above bible text as it tells us not to worry, but to hand the problem over to God and experience the unexplainable peace from God, that will replace the stress and worry. I could say “Good luck with that” but it has nothing to do with luck – it is a matter of faith and trust in our Father God, (as that baby trusts its mum or dad). However, like the person on the rocky ledge (who must let go of the ledge completely, and trust the paramedic), we must hand our problems over to God completely and trust Him. The New Testament says that if we have faith in God the possibilities are limitless and “faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God”.  So best wishes then, as we learn to stop worrying and start trusting. None of the above is theory to me, because I have “been there, and done all that.     Regards, Tom.  ( Read Phillippians 4:7 to confirm this.)