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.