Perfect Peace

On my daily walk, I noticed telephone wires swinging alarmingly in the wild winds. I hope they don’t break, or communication through the telephone and internet will be abruptly stopped and isolation will take on a new depth.

Storms in life can put tremendous strains on communications. A pandemic is such a storm for us all. Praying for those in difficult relationships during these times of lock-down.

I turned down the lane where the pine trees moaned and swayed. I watched as the red kite flapped his wings, which looked heavy and cumbersome. He struggled to lift off in the heavy gales, rising and dropping, rising and dropping, flapping harder, flapping harder. Eventually he achieved height.

Up there, high above the earth, he cruised on the currents. He wheeled and spun, turned and rose higher. His wings only twitched occasionally; movement seemed effortless.

Sometimes I come to a time of prayer and it is just hard work. I lift off and then drop away, distracted, anxious maybe, even bored. If I persevere, lifting off, dropping, lifting again, faltering, lifting again, then eventually I find myself in the presence of peace himself. Flapping – blurting out words of petition – has gone and I am left soaring in silence, enveloped in His love.

May we all persevere until we reach that place of perfect peace, resting in Jesus’ love.

Merry Christmas Eve

Weather outside is frightful.

The winds are whipping the trees into convulsive frenzies and driving the clouds through the sky. Occasional snow flurries blacken the day and then pass on to the next location. 

People all over the country are trying to get home for Christmas. In the south of England there are floods, trees on the rail lines and roads. All making for treacherous journeys. 

And I can’t control any of it. The weather will do what it will do, occasionally altered by a fervent prayer which times in with God’s plans, but more usually probably just the result of nature.

I can control the weather inside my head, though. Yesterday was the third anniversary of my dear dad’s passing on, and I was awake in the night remembering that night. I think about my ageing mother, thousands of miles away from me, grieving still. And I recognise I could give way to a raging storm of anxiety and fear for her future.

Or, I could focus on God. Psalm 63 says ‘On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.’

I can choose to think of God in the middle of the night rather than rehearse my anxieties. It isn’t an easy choice. The mind is notoriously rebellious and difficult to control. But again, the Bible declares that believers have ‘the mind of Christ’. He didn’t worry. He spent many of his sleepless nights out on the hills being close to his Father, from whom came his help. That’s why he could sing and worship as he headed towards the cross. He was in the shadow of his father’s wings, and he knew it.

So I have spent some time this morning in my prayer alcove, resting in the shadow of my heavenly Father’s wings. I have waited for his presence to be felt, for his peace to fill my heart. I have held those about whom I have concerns up before the throne of God, and entrusted them to his care.

My soul clings to God. I pray that yours does too. That is the way to perfect peace. Trusting in his faithfulness and love.

Merry Christmas Eve.

High Pressure

Strikes me as odd that a high pressure yields clear blue skies and sunshine, whereas a low pressure ushers in the storms and rain.

Odd when compared to what high pressure does to us humans. Most of us struggle when under stress, which is another word for high pressure. It feels more like storms and turbulence than settled sunshine. 

When the pressure is off, we relax as if under clear blue skies. The storms recede.

I’m out there walking, sunshine or storms, because the dog craves the stimulation and the exercise, (although she seems to go to ground when the temps rise, but who wouldn’t, wearing a heavy black fur coat as she is?) High pressure or low, I’m out there walking through it.

With Jesus as my constant companion, I can walk sedately through whatever the world wants to throw at me in terms of pressure. That’s my aim. To keep Jesus as my constant companion, to allow him to transform me into the person he created me to be, to keep focused and alert while anchored to a bedrock of perfect peace. 

A person whose mind is focused on God will be kept by God in perfect peace. It’s a promise given in the Bible. So what is perfect peace?

It’s a peace that is not tethered to circumstances. It’s a deep sense of calm despite upset, disappointment, or unwelcome news. It’s even – dare I say it? – a joy in the assurance that it’ll all come right in the end.

That’s faith. That’s trust. And it’s only possible if the God in whom I put my trust is faithful, and trustworthy, and keeps his promises.

He does. I know that because he tells me so. I also know that because I have experienced it.

So whatever today holds, sunshine or showers or indeed both, I am determined to remain focused on Jesus, so that I can rest in his perfect peace.

Squalls

At the moment, the sky is blue and the sun is out. From inside my comfortable living room, it looks like a nice day. But five minutes ago, the sky darkened and snowflakes flurried down, driven in waves by the arctic winds sweeping in from the north. 

Life is like this. Squalls. We’re humming along under blue skies, our lives fringed with minor distractions or anxieties. Then, suddenly, the sky darkens and we shiver in the cold north wind while icy snow stings our faces and melts into our clothing. Those minor distractions – or one or two of them – have suddenly exploded into major worries which draw all our waking thoughts into a maze of conjecture. We try to strategise, to make contingency plans in case something or other happens. 

It’s exhausting and pointless. 

Paul advises the Philippians, a city in modern-day Greece, not to worry about anything, but to give God thanks for everything and then tell him what we – or those we love – need. And the promise of God is that when we do that, he gives us peace. Peace that goes way beyond common sense in whatever situation we are in. Peace that makes no sense really, but which drives out fear.

My experience over decades of being a Christian has proven this to be true. Being a weak human being, though, I often need to re-learn truths I already know. 

Squalls will come. The sky will cloud. The arctic wind will drive the snow and the landscape will look bleak. But the Lord is with us. He is near. He guides our paths through these squally times, and then the sun comes out again. 

Praise God that he never leaves us alone, but always walks with us.