peace

Put off Anxiety, Put on Peace

The New Man Part 6

By Marc Eskander

Anxiety.

Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t a recent phenomenen. Very clearly, St Paul addressed anxiety in his Epistle to the Phillipians. Going back further, Solomon in the Proverbs discussed anxiety and worry. I dare say, our father Adam, anxiously walked out of the Garden of Eden after hearing the words, “cursed is the ground in your labors.” (Gen 3:17).

However, neither is anxiety an abnormal response. In fact, it’s crucial to our survival. Imagine yourself standing in a jungle, face to face with a lion who has just finished fasting for lent. On the menu? You. Your natural response should be, RUN. Reacting to stressors, and taking action is completely normal. It is critical to our survival.

So, where is the problem? When you’re sitting at home, and you perceive that uni assignment, task, meeting or phone call to be that lion about to eat you alive. Except you’re not in a jungle, and you’re not facing a lion.

While there is danger, it’s not nearly as bad as what we make it out to be. Anxiety is a distortion. It is distorting the facts of reality, making a mixtape of these distortions, then playing them on repeat. Over, and over, and over again.

This is good news! Why? It means something can be done about it. A physically unwell patient in a hospital is always joyful and hopeful to hear that their illness can be treated or cured, as opposed to being terminal. Similarly, we have the power to take a very active role in keeping ourselves mentally healthy. Just as a physically unwell Christian will combine both prayer and sacraments along with modern medicine, so too must anxiety be treated.

Often, especially as christians, we make the distinction with anxiety that it’s either a mental/physical problem, or a spiritual problem. There is no such distinction. Humans are not purely spiritual or physical beings. Anxiety, as a mental experience, has a clear physical state that can be measured, diagnosed, and described. However, as these physical signs accompany biological responses in our nervous system, as such they produce thoughts, affect emotions, and produce other physical and mental responses.

Our physical and mental experience of course cannot be separated from our spiritual one either. We cannot discount the importance of our relationship with Christ, the King of peace.

A contemporary elder of Mt Athos makes this observation:

The image which we can use to describe the relationship of soul and brain is the violin with the violinist. Just as even the best musician cannot make good music if the violin is broken or unstrung, in the same manner a man’s behavior will not be whole (see 2 Tim 3:17) if his brain presents a certain disturbance, in which case the soul cannot be expressed correctly. It is precisely this disturbance of the brain that certain medicines help correct and so aid the soul in expressing itself correctly.
Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

I would like to offer some advice taken from St Paul’s epistle to the Phillipian, that we can use to help achieve this inner calm and stillness, and help combat anxiety.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

We hear this verse a lot, and sometimes we roll our eyes, “yes yes, prayer, but what else can I do.” St Paul is promising a lot, peace that surpasses all understanding, it means no one understands how or where this peace came from. No one can give you this same peace.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.
John 14:27

If we’re given this promise, we should take the commandments seriously. Keep in mind, St Paul wrote this verse from prison, not on holidays in Santorini, or at his holiday house in the countryside. Prison, for the crime of being Christian.

So what is St Paul commanding us?

Firstly, to be anxious for nothing. Easier said than we’d done. Don’t be anxious about that friend that ignored you, that job you lost, the exam you have in a week that you haven’t studied for, the bills that are piling up. Nothing. Does that mean it all magically goes away? Unfortunately not. That friend may very well be upset at you, you still don’t have a job, you might fail that exam, you still don’t have money for those bills. But let’s go back to the promise, we’re not always promised solutions, we’re promised peace. The peace of God. However, in gaining that peace, I now have greater strength, focus and grace to pursue solutions and to open my eyes to a way out that God is providing. I can confidently learn a new skill and find a job, I lovingly confront my friend and resolve the conflict, I get a wake up call and learn new ways of utilising my time to study, I learn to be generous with my money and not be concerned with how God will look after me.

The reason that the Bible and the Church fathers are so adamant on the path of suffering being the path to salvation is this; in suffering we partake in the same path that Christ took. More than anything, this is our calling, to share with our Creator, our God, our Bridegroom; to share in His suffering is to share in the Resurrection after the crucifixion, to share in the Kingdom of Heaven. The same Kingdom of Heaven that is within us.

The second commandment, in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

St Paul here gives us the other extreme. On one hand, “Be anxious for nothing”, on the other hand, “but in everything”. Whatever we may have been anxious about, past, present or future, he’s saying, turn it into a prayer. We crucify the anxiety, and raise it in prayer. If anxious and worrisome thoughts consume my mind all day, imagine turning each thought into a prayer. There is now a very real chance of attempting to “pray unceasingly.” Orthodoxy continuously teaches us this method of spiritual growth and progress. God glorifies our weaknesses for His glory, turning anxiety into peace, pain into healing, death into life. One of the most powerful tools for this is the Jesus Prayer. Fr Seraphim Rose in the book, “His Life and Works” says,

“Pain and suffering drive one to seek a more profound happiness beyond the limitations of this world. I am at this moment in some pain, and I call on the name of Jesus, in Whom alone we may transcend this world, may be with me during it, and His will be done in me.”

Finally, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We are promised this peace, which is beyond comprehension, and we are promised protection by this peace. Peace guards our hearts and minds from the worries and fears of this world. It shields us from those destructive and intrusive thoughts that shatter our inner peace and gnaw away at our connection with Christ.

This peace also doesn’t make sense. We don’t understand how it works, we don’t understand why it gives us so much strength and grace. In guarding our hearts, we are shielded from attaching our hearts to any other loves that are not Christ. Our emotions, feelings and desires are redirected towards all that is holy and pure. In protecting our minds, our thoughts, conscious and unconscious are transformed and instead of leading us away from our Creator, they lead us to Him.

The Peacemakers

The Beatitudes Series Part 7

Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God

By Amy Saleam

Peace – is it more than just merely the absence of physical chaos?

To really answer this question, we need to think of where our peace comes from. In John 14:27, the Lord says “peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.” When we think about cause and effect, we realise that for something to happen, there would be some sort of trigger or stimulus for it. In this beatitude we are called to be peacemakers, so it is very important as Christians to know where our peace comes from, truly acknowledge it and allow it to manifest into our actions, so that we may really live our lives as reflections of Christ.

When you switch on the news or even when you’re aimlessly scrolling through social media, you read and watch reckless behaviour, unforgiveness in the name of justice, humiliation of others, leaders of countries making derogatory comments about other nations and the list goes on. To a person who has not known Christ, this may seem like just another day in this “normal,” yet so broken world.

The difference for us is that having Christ as the centre of our lives means having His peace dwell within us. This peace can alleviate the anxiety and fear of what we see on the news and social media and gives us an opportunity to challenge these broken “norms.” The truth is, however, we very so often take this lightly. Christ has given us something so precious, a peace that can be found nowhere else but in Him. With this peaces comes the responsibility to make our actions a reflection of He who dwells within us. For some, our actions of love and forgiveness can, at times, be the first taste of Christ for others. This is something we should consider when we are dealing with others in difficult situations. Are we going to respond in a way which reflects the corruption that is around us, or are we going to react in a way that will emit Christ? Understanding that by offering the grace and peace that the Lord has given us to others, we are in extension giving them an opportunity to know what it is like to have Christ.

So to answer the question, is peace more than just the absence of physical chaos? Yes. This is because in order for there to be a physical kind of peace, it is something that starts from the purity of our hearts and the treasure of the Lord’s peace in our lives. In Psalm 120:7 we read, “I am for peace, but when they speak they are for war.” St John Chrysostom comments on this and says:

This is virtue, this is above man’s understanding, this makes us near God…but if we are fighting and buffeting, we become far off from God: for enmities are produced by conflict, and from enmity springs remembrance of evil.

Identity – Who am I, who are you?

As we read through the beatitudes, we realise that each one is painting a montage of who Christ is, as He teaches us the virtues we are to exhibit. Living out each of these virtues is followed by a blessing. What is so special about the seventh beatitude is that It does not tell us what we will obtain, but rather it tells us about who we are.

When you first meet someone, your conversations will go something like this. You’ll start off with your name, your ethnic background, what your 9-5 is, perhaps you’ll even mention a hobby or two. These are all little bits and pieces of your character that are sown together. These are the conversation starters that can help connect us with other people. I’d like you to think of the part of you that you value the most. The piece of your identity that you cannot live without, that if it was taken from you overnight, you really cannot fathom what you will do.

What I love the most about this beatitude is that it reminds us that through the Lord, we can obtain the most valuable piece of our identity. Something that cannot be physically touched or seen, but something prized that cannot be taken from you. A title that your heart will be satisfied in, even if what you thought was the most important part of your life was not there anymore. How truly beautiful is it to know that you are the son or daughter of God.

So how can we live out Christ’s peace? I was listening to a sermon by Fr Benjamin Abouelkheir which was a part of a series called ‘Parting with Partiality’ He tells us that partiality is when we allow our own thoughts and emotions influence how we deal with and perceive other people, instead of using fact. Fr Benjamin points out Galatians 3:25-27 where we are told that we are all Sons of God through faith in Christ and that there is “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This really had me thinking. Perhaps the first steps to create peace with others is to remove our own judgment and partiality, and to see others through the eyes of God. Removing this partiality will allow us to deal with others and situations not based on just their name, status, occupation or connections, but to be able to lift the bias and show them Christ through our actions.

How important is it that we become peacemakers?

“There is nothing better than peace in Christ, for it brings victory over all the evil spirits on earth and in the air. When peace dwells in a man’s heart it enables him to contemplate the grace of the Holy Spirit from within….all our desires, all our efforts, and all our actions should make us say constantly with the Church: “O Lord, give us peace!” When a man lives in peace, God reveals mysteries to him..”
St Seraphim of Sarov

The Lord has promised that by being a pillar of peace to others, your identity will be nothing less than being known as His child. Let us grasp onto the peace He fills us with and love others enough to share it with them and be the peacemakers that this world is yearning for.

Instruments of His Peace

Instruments of His Peace

By Monica

Original post by Becoming Fully Alive blog site

“Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.” Psalm 106:3

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9

As a church we tend to focus on promising a hope in the life to come, but what about the life we are still living? Jesus didn’t just come to prepare us for our death, but also to teach us how to live. Jesus cared about the hurt and the brokenness in this world. He cared for the widows and orphans. He talked about unjust judges way more than He did about the afterlife. Jesus cared about justice, in fact Jesus is justice, just like He is love. It is integral to His character.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He wept over Jerusalem because they didn’t know ‘the things that make for peace.’ Ironically, the world’s logic says that we must make peace, but we use violence; but Jesus defeated violence with love and peace. Peacemaking does not mean passivity. It is the act of disarming evil without harming the evil doer. Peacemaking starts with what we can change; ourselves. But it doesn’t end there, being a peacemaker also means interrupting the violence we see around us, in our streets and in our worlds.

I see my Facebook flooded with pictures and outraged statuses, but when will we be moved enough to actually move? When will we start becoming instruments of His peace? Because, it’s a heartbreaking fact that in the world Christians have become known more for what they are against, rather than what they are for.

We wait on God to act, but God is also waiting on us. We ask God why there is so much suffering in the world, but maybe God is asking us the same question. We forget that we have spent our Sunday worshipping a homeless man because we ignore him on a Monday. We are His hands and feet. We ask God to move a mountain, but God has already handed us a shovel. We need to pray and act. The world needs our protests and our prayers. The world will continue to suffer if we continue being either inactive believers or unbelieving activists. We need to pray to be people who hold God’s hand in one and our neighbour’s in the other.

We need to pray intentionally to be arrows that strike specifically, because He promised that; ‘each man’s work will become evident’ 1 Corinthians 3:13, so let us write His promises on the walls of our hearts and pray that He reveals to us His perfect pre-planned work for us. Maybe we can’t build a wall, but when each brings his brick, brick by brick, the wall will be built.

C.S. Lewis wrote: “We must picture hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives with the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment.”

“Who, in the midst of the preoccupation of hell, would have the energy and generosity for the larger battles? What might it mean if we resolved to abandon every petty, small, and unworthy battle? What if we resolved to give ourselves fully to larger things that matter, to things of God and His kingdom? In fact, in a world of so much acute suffering, hurt and need, for what purpose have you and I been granted so much?” Gary Haugen

Prayer: God please comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. Let us be disturbed to the point where we cannot accept serving at a distance but that we become active about making a difference.

Original blog found at- http://becomingfullyalive.com/instruments-of-his-peace/

The Meek

The Beatitudes Series Part 3

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth

by Rebecca Kozman

Picture this.

You’re sitting on a hill in the middle of a little village overlooking the Sea of Galilee, looking up at Christ on a mountain preaching something called the Beatitudes. You live in a time where there is no understanding of weakness or meekness. No, this is a time where there is more of an understanding of power, a world ruled over by Caesar’s. A world where armies made the people subject to their sheer force. This is a world that turns on the tables of power. This is a world where the powerful were the ones that “inherited the earth.”

So if you’re a villager, living in a time that only cares about power and authority, why should you even bother to care about Christ’s preaching? Why should you care about inheriting the earth if it only goes to the powerful? The message Christ shares regarding this beatitude is preached within a context. He’s not preaching to the rich and powerful, He’s not preaching to the people that had the ability to make a phone call to make something happen. He is preaching to villagers, a simple class of people.

Christ is saying to the simpletons, ‘If you’re a meek person, not only will you be happy, but you’ll have the type of life, the type of power, that transcends that of Caesar.’ Every time Jesus preaches a sermon, He’s not just preaching to our life in this world, He’s preaching to something greater. I don’t know about you, but I’m convinced that those who inherit the earth are sometimes those whose stories are never known on the earth. One day, when we’re standing in Heaven, don’t be surprised to find out that the little person sitting on the hill was the unlikely character God used to change history.

So it all sounds nice and dandy to be meek so we can inherit the earth, but what does being ‘meek’ even look like? The Cambridge English Dictionary defines ‘meek’ as being quiet, gentle, without resentment. The Biblical understanding of being meek is best defined in Psalm 37. Let’s put together a portrait of a meek person using this allusive psalm;

Verse 5 tells us that a meek person puts their trust in God, trusting He will work for them when others oppose them with their authority.

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Going into verse 7 we find that a meek person is still before God and waits patiently for Him.

⁷Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Not only that, but they don’t fret themselves over the wicked who get in their way and they refrain from anger.
⁸Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

⁹For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.

And finally, King David says, “The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (sound familiar?). If we backtrack and take a look at verse 9 it says, “Those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land.” The portrait of meekness begins by trusting God. Then it commits its way to the Lord in His confidence, and it waits patiently and quietly, not giving way to anger when faced with opposition and power.

With this in mind, what effect does Jesus want this promise to have on the followers? He wants the promise to give them strength to continue in their meekness, that what is seen as weakness by the world is strength in the Lord. The promise of the inheritance of the earth to the meek was intended to strengthen the meek to endure when times get tough. The natural human inclination is to defend one’s self; fight for your rights. But there is blessing (i.e. beatitude) in the one that meekly refrains.

All things are yours, “whether Paul of Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 18-23). You don’t need the vain pleasures of this world because God has already made you an heir of the world. The quietness and openness and vulnerability of meekness is a very beautiful yet painful concept. It goes against all that we are by our sinful nature. It requires supernatural help. And that help is available, thank God!

Whom the Lord Loves, He Chastens

Whom the Lord Loves, He Chastens

by Shery Abdelmalak

“For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.” – Proverbs 3:12

In Proverbs, we have the image of a loving father and son relationship, the father corrects so that one day his son will be even better than him. But what does this mean to the rest of us, who am I to correct, and how do I receive correction?

When the people went to stone the sinner woman, Jesus stopped them saying, “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone” (John 8:7). As Jesus said this, He was writing on the ground. While it is not mentioned what He was writing, the Church Fathers suggest that He was writing the sins of the people. By extension, if every time I condemn another person for their sin, God remembers my sin then any desire to “vent” or express any ill-feelings quickly disperses.

On the contrary, in Jeremiah, we read, “I shall forgive their error, and their sin I shall remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). How do we gain this forgiveness? By imitation of the One who taught us to love when He first loved us and died on the Cross for our sake (1 John 4:19). Love is what covers a multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8). When we face sins committed against us, we can choose condemnation or we can choose love.

In condemnation, we do the same as those that stoned the sinner woman, and we know that in the remembrance of her sins, Christ remembered the sins of those that stoned her. To strive for justice and fairness also means being accountable for my own sins, and the price of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

More so, I need to consider my own dwelling place that I find refuge in at the end of each day. If I have hardened my heart all day, if I have spent my days defending my own honour and allowing no room for any kind of mistreatment, how can I soften my heart in prayer to the One that is Love?

If I learn to take the sins of others to the Cross, I soften my heart and prepare it as the dwelling place of the King. I can spend my days in prayer for those that have hurt me. I can see a glimpse of the love Christ has for me because I know that no matter what anyone does to me, I have done worse to my Beloved. I can be a part of God’s handiwork. Is that not exactly what God wanted for us? “As I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).

When it comes to correction in love, it is only for the benefit of the other person. These are not irrational or emotion-filled words. When Nathan corrected David, it was the wake-up call that created the repentance of Psalm 51. He told him a story of a rich man that stole from a poor man all he had. He knew that this would arouse goodness within David for he knew David and he loved him (2 Sam 12:1-15). Correction cannot be separated from love, nor can it be effectively executed if ill-feelings are present.

When I look at how God deals with me, He doesn’t give me all the answers when I ask for them. When I am at the depths of despair, He shows me His love. He doesn’t tell me the mistakes I made that caused the turmoil I find myself in. So why do I attempt to correct His children? God has made me, fearfully and wonderfully, He has plans for me. Every sin, every weakness, every doubt in my mind, He is going to heal. We’re not meant to fake it, we’re meant to take it all to the throne of grace. St Peter says to take all your cares to Him, for He cares for you. Do I know Him enough to be giving myself life advice, let alone other people? Sometimes I can feel the love of God so strongly in my life, I feel safe, I feel secure, but even then, it is just a glimpse – a shadow – of His limitless love.

How can I make a judgement on another when my knowledge is limited? What I know about life is based on what God knows I can handle and what is relevant to me. He is giving the same grace to those around me. It’s not my job to teach them lessons He so carefully taught me. To be a friend of God is to support others along their journey. Recognise that I don’t have all the answers. I use what He has given me. I have strengths, but I don’t disregard my weaknesses. When someone comes to me in weakness, I don’t act high and mighty, I approach them with lowliness. I make sure that they don’t feel small when they’re in my presence. I don’t tell them my heroic stories. If I’m going to tell them anything, it is that what they’re feeling, I felt too. If they’re feeling weak, so am I, and I understand that it is in weakness my need for a Saviour becomes apparent.

Christ taught us to love beyond limit. He taught us that greater love has no limits than to lay down one’s life for his friends. He didn’t tell me to play Dr. Phil, He just told me to love, and love will cause the change. He didn’t tell me to lecture people into taking my superior life advice on board. Support your friends, pray for them, see a fault in them and pray all the more.

At a time when Noah was at his lowest, he was drunk and naked and his sons laughed at his shame, but he also had sons that covered his nakedness. Every time you see a fault in a person, you have the choice to cover them or to shame them. Be the one that covers their shame. It is a gift when God reveals the weaknesses of another to you, because it is in that moment that He is inviting you to share in the salvation of another. When we see the sins of others and pray for them, we partake in God’s ultimate plan for their life to grant them salvation.

I can’t forget how patiently God deals with me, He reveals glimpses of His love when I am down. When I have sinned and the repercussions are beyond me, He shields me from the damage my own sins have caused. The remembrance of my sins and the greatness of my God are what grant peace to the troubled heart.

Perpetual quietness of heart is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore; to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I blamed and despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace, as in a sea of calmness, when all around and about is seeming trouble.

– Andrew Murray

Perhaps it is perpetual quietness of heart that causes change in another, more than our words of correction ever could. More so, that same spirit of peace is the prerequisite for turning any condemnation into helpful correction as we strive toward the ultimate goal of eternity with the One who is Love.

Peace

by Mark Anton

Peace – no, we’re not talking about throwing up those deuces, but the “My peace I leave with you” and the “in the world you will have tribulation but take heart for I have overcome the world” kind of peace.

In other words, we’re talking about the true and lasting peace that ‘transcends all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’(Philippians 4:7).

So what is this peace? Why is it so important and where can we find it?

St Augustine was a man who once indulged in all the world had to offer and despite all his experiences and endeavours in the world, he famously concluded that “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You,”

St Isaac the Syrian also echoed this when he said that “in all the paths that men walk in the world, they do not attain peace until they draw nigh to hope in God.”

St Augustine and St Isaacaccurately diagnosed the yearning for inner peace that we all have inside of us and the only place we can find it.Said another way, there are many things the world has to offer us, and they can often appear to promise us peace and rest, but they will fail to deliver because the source of true and lasting peace is God alone.

The Lord Himself spoke of this type of peace when he told his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He spoke of His imminent departure and then encouraged His disciples not to be troubled or afraid because He will provide the true and lasting peace that is different from the peace the world knows:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

In his Nativity message on Luke 24, HH Pope Shenouda III explains the different types of peace that every person needs in their life – peace with God, peace with people and peace of the heart – and that we cannot attain true inner peace unless we learn to trust in God. That is, if we place our lives in our own hands or the hands of other people, we will always be troubled, but if we believe that our lives are in God’s hands, we will find rest.

Those who trust in God and His planning for their lives are not troubled or restless and exude a peace that is tangible and visible.

To have peace with God is to live a life of righteousness and, conversely, when our relationship with God is shaken, we lose our inner peace which is the result of sin and distancing ourselves from God. He who lives in peace with God will naturally live in peace with others, and those who have attained true peace reflect this in their interactions with others – they bear with patience and will pardon and forgive others.

Our Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and the source of peace Himself. In Christ’s life, we have the shining example of peace. Not only did our Lord live a life of non-violence, and exemplify peace in the external sense of the word, but He also gave those around Him rest and comfort. St Anatoly of Optina said that wherever God is there is peace and that where there is everything ruinous, proud and hostile, there is the devil. We know that in the world we will have tribulations (John 16:33), and so peace does not mean to be in a place where there are no external disturbances but rather to be amid all those things and still have peace in our hearts.

We have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, and so like the disciples sitting in the upper room, we too can hope in God for true peace during our difficulties.

Peace, Be Still

Peace, Be Still

by Samuel Saeed

The year 2018 was meant to be the best year of my life. Graduated from school, getting my license, starting university and even moving out of my own home and living with my friends. Ultimately, this was the year of freedom for me, the year where I would finally have everything I wanted and be happy, or so I thought.

I start the year, and everything goes wrong. Moving becomes a struggle for me, adapting to a new life is tiresome and strenuous. Basically, all the wrong that I thought I was invincible against, happened to me. Sound pretty depressing right? I thought this was meant to be the year for me. I thought this would be the best year of my life. What happened God, where did it go wrong?

The problem I soon uncovered later by the Grace of God was that I found that I was putting my sense of peace and happiness on the external circumstances. I thought that what was happening around me would give me happiness. Wow was I wrong. This occurs to everyone daily. For example, you get to work, your boss yells at you, you do something wrong and lose clients or patients, or whatever it may be. Sound familiar? Or how about you go to school, realised you flunked a test, someone may have bullied you, or a teacher may have yelled at you. We allow these types of circumstances to affect my peace, but all of these are external. What about the internal?

Let’s look at Joseph the Righteous. A man loved by his father, but hated by his brothers. Given many gifts, yet he was still sold as a slave. This man went through it all and only at the age of approximately 17 or 18. Imagine being sold by the people you called your brothers and who you thought loved you the most or being imprisoned for something you didn’t commit, not a great feeling. But the most amazing thing is not once did it say in the Bible that Joseph complained or was upset or hated his life. “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man” (Genesis 39:2). All of the external circumstances were against Joseph, yet his internal state was peace and this is what sustained him. His trust in God and love for God that sustained him regardless of his external circumstances. It was God’s peace that sustained him throughout all of these adversaries.

Let’s look at the example of Susanna and Daniel. This woman was sentenced to death for something that she didn’t do. Her life flashed before her eyes as the two elders lied to the assembly and she was being condemned to her death. Clearly, her external circumstances were appalling, however let us look on her internal state. She did not frail, nor did she complain, but rather, she cried aloud to the Eternal God in complete trust and faith and was saved the very same day. Susanna’s internal circumstance was one of peace and faith and this delivered her from death at the hands of the evil men.

What does this mean for us? We all go through periods where we just feel like the world is against us. We may feel as though whatever we try to do in life, it keeps on messing up and turning against us. God is telling us today, “peace, be still”. He is telling us with love, to leave all of our external circumstances in His hands and to focus on our own internal peace which is only from Him. Indeed, this is how all the martyrs lived. They didn’t care about death or torture, but rather they maintained their internal peace and trusted in God even until the point of death, and King David describes them as “the excellent ones on the earth” (Psalms 16:3).

Ultimately, when I put my sense of peace and happiness in God’s hands and not in the hands of the external circumstances, then nothing should hurt me except sin alone. I should truly become invincible. To finish with a story, there was once a man in my church whose wife had fallen ill and had to be delivered to hospital. She had lost all her memories and was bed-ridden and to be honest, it didn’t seem like things were going to end well for her. However, when I spoke to the husband, all he would say was “God is going to take care of everything, I know it”. Surely enough, she was healed and all her memories returned. Despite the external, this man did not allow his internal circumstance to waver from the peace that God gave him, and this is what we should all be aspiring towards.

Hebrews 12:14 – A Contemplation

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”

Hebrews 12:14

By: Christine Azer

As I was contemplating this verse, I was struck by the specific use of the word “pursue” which implies an active decision rather than a passive action. As Christians, we aim “if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” –Romans 12:18. Contrary to the belief that a person must first be peaceful to show peace to others, pursuing peace helps us attain this sense of calmness. We are responsible for taking the first step in mending a damaged relationship.

The consequences of showing peace to others are not only self-beneficial but critical for the salvation of others, as expressed through the end of the verse. Evangelising can occur unnoticed to the evangeliser; mainly when others observe the lifestyle of a Christian and admire it. They seek the peace that we show to others.

A perfect of example of this active pursuit of peace is seen in Genesis 33, where Jacob attempts to mend his relationship with his brother, Esau. To pursue peace, firstly, we must pray fervently to have peace with someone; this is necessary because Satan makes it difficult for us to be united in Christ as he promotes division. Jacob “wrestled” with the Lord because the lack of peace between him and his brother troubled him. Secondly, pursuing peace requires humility, as seen through Jacob when he “bowed himself to the ground seven times”. Thirdly, he offered physical gifts, “receive my present from my hand”, which was his way of pursuing peace.

We also see this in the character Ibrahim El-Gohary, the Egyptian prime minister during the late 18th century, who acted as the peacemaker between his brother and his brother’s abuser. From his actions, we too are called to act as peacemakers not only to mend our own relationships with others but to promote peace between all people.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”- Matt 5:9

Glory be to God. Amen.