God’s Peace

A Banjo Lesson

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Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luke 12:27 NKJV

As many of you know, we here in Florida have recently been through two hurricanes. Thankfully, our home was spared damage, though for a couple of days our neighborhood was surrounded on all sides by flooding. For us, the highlight of these events is that Betty and Banjo moved in with us. Betty is a lady from our prayer group, and my buddy Banjo is a fourteen-year-old Yorkie, who is still pretty spry though he is missing a few of his teeth. Taking a quick glance at Banjo’s face as he waits for me to hook up his leash, doesn’t inspire the thought, “Now that is a wise looking animal.” Yet, the Lord has used my new friend to remind me about stopping to consider.

You see, when I go for my normal walks, I look up at the sky, smile at the neighbors and focus on finishing a mile in just over twenty minutes. But walking with Banjo has been quite a different experience. Banjo’s goal (besides his normal doggie duties) is to stop and sniff at leaves, fallen branches, plants in my garden and even rather ordinary patches of grass. At first, I wasted time and energy fussing at Banjo, tugging on his leash and wondering what in the world was so intriguing about whatever twig his nose was closely inspecting. Then I remembered how Jesus said, “Consider the lilies.” and He, the master craftsman of the universe, designed every detail of every lily to teach me a lesson about life. I recalled that while I enjoyed striding around my neighborhood, Banjo preferred slowly ambling up the sidewalk, pausing every few feet to consider the delicate smells of a thousand things in his world. When I toss and turn in my bed wondering how we can help Betty and Banjo get reestablished, Banjo sleeps soundly though the night. While I fret over whether we should invest in a generator, Banjo simply eats whatever we put in his dish and then lies down for a sweet nap. Though our future seems more uncertain than ever, now I pause again and consider lilies, and sparrows, and remember that my Heavenly Father is still in control. He orders the tides and storms, commands the wind and waves, and calms my heart. And I am thankful this morning for how God sent us one little Yorkie named Banjo, to remind me of His love and care!

Finding God’s Peace

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I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV

Sometimes it may feel as if God is playing a game, by putting the peace that we need under one of three shells, and leaving it up to us to guess where He has it hidden. But, Jesus makes it clear that the peace we need so much can be found in Him, and He didn’t leave our finding it to chance. I like the way that the King James renders this verse, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might find peace.” When Jesus says, “These things,” He means, all of His teachings, from loving our enemies, to forgiving our brothers and sisters, or trusting in Him alone for salvation, were spoken, not to make us miserable. Instead everything Jesus ever taught was so that in Him we could have peace. God already knows about our problem, and He is not asking for us to guess where to find the answer as we face it. He has promised that in troubles of every kind, we can find peace in Him, because He has already overcome them. He endured the terrible agony of the cross, still remaining faithful until death to His Father’s will, so that we could have His amazing and miraculous peace. In what area of your life do you desperately need God’s peace today? Bring it to Him in prayer, trusting that He already knows and has already overcome and He longs for you and I to have His peace in every situation because He loved us more than His own life.

Photo by Chavdar Lungov on Pexels.com

A Quiet Heart

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For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. Isaiah 30:15

This verse from Isaiah, was written to people who were in exile. They were far from their culture, family and roots. Though this might sound a lot like everyday life in New York, it actually referred to the kingdom of Israel. Instead of serving the God who had delivered them from Egypt, they had decided to build altars to all kinds of idols and had forsaken God. This occurred, not just for a decade or even a couple of generations, but for hundreds of years. Eventually God allowed the Assyrian empire to sweep in, conquer their land and carry most of the ruling class off into exile. It was almost as if God was said, “Okay so you want to serve foreign gods? Okay, so then you might as well and go live with other folks who already do!” But even as far as God’s people had gotten away from Him, He never abandoned them. In today’s verse He is calling for them to return home, if only in their hearts. The problem was not the Assyrians. The problem was their own stubborn hearts. Many of them liked what they were doing and instead of changing their minds about idolatry, they doubled down on their misbehavior and complained about their situation. Does that sound familiar? It should, because that describes most of us at one time or another in our lives. Our hearts have grown cold, and we have been carried far away from God. But God has not given up on us.

But how can we know that for sure? Well, think about where Jesus was sent to live. Sure, everybody knows that He was born in Bethlehem, but He didn’t stay long. Instead, Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee. And where was Galilee? It was exactly where the remnants of the people who had been conquered by Assyria lived. Matthew’s gospel tells us about why by quoting from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.” Now that picture of dwelling in darkness is exactly like many of our lives. We are busier than we have ever been, but in spite of all the comforts and pleasures that swirl about us, we are a community, a state, a nation and a world in turmoil. With the answer to almost any question at our fingertips we have no more peace and quiet than we had a hundred, two hundred or even two thousand years ago. We desperately need to find rest, and God is, calling out for us to come to Him to find it.  But just like those ancient Israelites, we often just keep running away. The answer to our problem is not by some idyllic lake, at the top of a mountain climb or on the deck of a cruise ship. The only true and eternal quietness is in the presence of Jesus Christ and He offer it for free!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV