Peace, Be Still

"There's a peace I've come to know....Though my heart and flesh may fail.
There's an anchor for my soul....I can say 'It is well'". ~Chris Tomlin

Many years ago, fresh out of college, I took a job as a summer youth minister. I had heard that youth ministers were supposed to do lock-ins, so we scheduled one for the middle-school and junior high students. They showed up in droves (not sure how much that is but I know its a lot!). I believe over 50 students showed up. It is not an understatement to say that tweenagers are rambunctious and energetic. About 3am, I was at my wit's end. I hid in an office area for 30 min and took a cat nap, but the mayhew and noise continued into the morning hours. Then I had a revelation. These kids needed to know how to have a quiet time (I was young but I wasn't stupid). We talked briefly about quiet times, read some scripture and then I made them listen to "Peace, Be Still" by Al Denson. You old school Christian music fans will remember that song. Within two minutes of the song playing, the majority of the little darlings were asleep and stayed that way for nearly two hours.

This story reminds me of the peace that God promised us. Peace in the midst of a storm. Peace in dire circumstances. Peace in the middle of our failures and feelings of inadequacy. Peace. It is so elusive to some, but we know when we have it in our grasp. The ability to enter God's rest. To know that everything has a purpose and it will all work out no matter what we do or don't do. Knowing that someone else much more powerful than us has it under control and has everything taken care of. We can only sense that peace when we get still and put everything in perspective. It's an amazing feeling. But how do we get there? Is there a magic formula?

Recently we experienced a lot of rain. However, today it is cool and the sun is shining. I have already forgotten the dreariness of the clouds and rain and all I see is the sun shining and I can feel the cool air on my skin. The pain is gone. The sunshine has changed all our sorrow into joy. Will the rains come again? Of course they will. But so will the sunshine. And knowing that the sun will shine again makes the rain bearable.

So when peace comes does it stay forever? I would love to say that is the case, but that is not the way life works. When the rain is falling, all hope of sunshine is blurred by the rain. Peace is a mindset; a perspective that has to be renewed occasionally as we remind ourselves that all is well.  It is sometimes elusive and hides when we desire it the most. But it eventually appears when we we least expect it, just like a ray of light as it peeks from behind the clouds after days of rain. The sun is shining. All is well.

Get What We Deserve?

"All you need is love." ~The Beatles

Do any of us deserve to be loved? That's not an easy question. If you mean deserve in the sense of what we have done to earn love, maybe so or maybe not. If we don't "feel" loved, does that mean that we are not loved? Some of us spend our entire lives trying to answer this question. When I look at the life and legacy of Christ, again the picture is unclear, but I think it leans in favor of a resounding "No!". We don't deserve God's love because of what we did to Christ and because of the nature of our sinful lives. But he still loves us.

There have been many times I felt unloved. In the loneliness and quiet I experienced after my divorce, I felt as unloved as I have ever felt. I am a Christian so I know the verses that tell me I am loved. But did I deserve to be loved at that point. The world might say no, especially if they disagree with the whole idea of divorce. Does the alcoholic deserved to be loved by God? the overeater? the perverted? the thief? the "fill in the blank" sinner? Common sense says that they have messed and up and deserve everything that comes to them. But many things in the Christian life are not common sense. Common sense says we don't deserve to be loved. But Christ flipped everything we know about love upside down. He said he loved us anyway. He said he wanted fellowship with us. He said that we don't deserve to be loved, but he loves us in spite of ourselves. THAT is amazing and confusing and exhilarating all at the same time.

For the Christian, heaven is the eternal leveler. I was thinking about what I might say in heaven to those I had wronged or those who had wronged me, but all I could visualize saying is "No matter what happened in our lifetimes, it does not compare to this place. All is forgiven." There is no more drama or tears or worry or fear or diets or stairmasters or pain from losing a loved one. Only eternal joy and unadulterated love in its purest form.

So the answer is not as easy as it sounds. We do not deserve to be loved, but we are loved just the same. So that compels me to love others and be loved by others since we are all on the same level playing field when it comes to love. So when someone says they love you, don't cower your head and flog yourself like a monk. Say thank you and take it...and give it back to them the best you can. The only thing we will take with us into the next life is love. That includes the love of ones we have enjoyed on Earth and and the love that compels us toward the light of eternal and everlasting love-- a loving hand that invites us into His presence. I AM loved, whether or not I deserve it!!! And that is a gift in and of itself.