Prince of Peace
As I wrote this, I put this song on repeat, and I encourage you to as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIqUTMHl9Cs
Each year I wait for a word from God. Each year I wait with anticipation for a word that would reveal the future I was to expect. For example, one year I felt Him say “Leader with Child-like faith”. That year I lead in a variety of ways, but my main journey was with the children’s ministry at church. I had not remembered that He gave me that word until the end of the year when I was already deeply involved with the children.
Having a plan so detailed for my future that one could almost see a blueprint when peering into my eyes, I could assume the word from God for my year before He even told me. I knew it would be something like “The year of marriage”, or “Commitment”.
Nope.
Oh be still my heart, I know that You are God.
As I sat in my bedroom, I waited for a sign. I waited for a triumphant voice. I waited for a little bird to fly in my room and drop off a sealed letter stating, “This is what God wants you to know”.
Nope.
Just as I started to give up and give in to the forming headache, I felt it. A pull in my heart, an ache, and a statement that popped into my head and would not leave:
No Fear.
I tried to shake it. I tried to start writing down something else. Anything else. I mean, no fear? Great. The thoughts that raced through my head about what I was going to come to in my life that caused me to fear, why I would fear, when would these fear driving moments happen, who would cause me to fear, etc.
I feared the fact that God told me no fear!
I can see it now: God laughing so hard, and then falling into a gentle smile, because this whole time He knows exactly what is going to happen, He sees the end, and He has it figured out. What a good Dad.
God, He loves us. His peace screams to calm us. His voice is best heard when in a whisper. Elijah heard every form of communication ever imagined coming from the Creator of the world.
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
The Creator of the Universe, who simply breathes and creates raging oceans, steep mountains, and deep valleys, uses a gentle whisper to talk to us. That tug on our hearts that comes after He speaks is a result of a whisper: A whisper from The King.
And yet I still fear. I wanted things to go according to my plan. Yet many days pass where I ask God “what’s the plan?” It’s like a child asking the answers to the questions on their test, yet when being told the answers, they plug their ears and walk away believing that their answers are the best answers.
Sometimes I think if we allowed peace to take the place of the fear, and we allowed our hearts to be quenched, we could experience stillness that would be so satisfying that we would desire nothing more.
I am not good at this. I tell myself more often than not that fear and stress are my caffeine. They keep me going, and I clean up as many messes as I can so that I can eventually rest. One mess leads to a revealing of another mess, and then another mess, and another. I need to give it to God.
The stillness isn’t found after we clean up the mess, it’s found when we offer the mess to God. He knows how to clean it up! He sees every mess form, and He lovingly cleans up each mess. Not by placing fear into our hearts, but by giving us peace that passes all understanding, and by showing us that He’s got this. He knows what He is doing!
So, my challenge for you and me is simply this: Let God be God. Don’t fear what is happening or is going to happen. Surrender it to God, and feel Him tear the fear out of your heart and replace it with peace. Be still, my heart. I know that You are God.
Tearing through the night, riding on the storm, staring down the fight, my eyes found yours. Shining like the sun, staring through my fear, the Prince of Peace met me there.