March 10, 2020
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. (John 14:27 NIV)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:15 NIV)
Peace escaped me. Thinking about the events of the day, I felt the tightness grow in my chest. My breathing grew rapid and shallow. So many things felt broken. Physical problems, overdue tasks, lost opportunities, and misunderstandings overwhelmed me. My natural response to failure had always been “try harder. So I pushed through the pain, I worked into the night, I sought new opportunities, and I tried harder to prove myself to others. When everything took another turn for the worse, I finally realized I had nothing left to give.
Those voices urging me to rush to fix the problems did not come from God. They leveraged my insecurities and fear of failure to push me into action. They encouraged me to be self-centered, looking at each challenge from the perspective of how it could hurt me. The pressure intensified as I bought into the lie that it was my responsibility to fix all these problems.
Nope, I didn’t write this about this week’s news events. The blog title and first two paragraphs addressed a time in the past – yet they mirror what many of us will experience over the next few months. The canceling of schools and public gatherings initiate a new series of challenges precipitated by the COVID-19 virus. Circumstances out of our control will impact our health, our vocations, our finances, and our relationships.
Watching the reports of Costco cart races for toilet paper and the social media photos of empty grocery shelves, I know somebody is whispering in our ears that we need to hurry. That voice encourages us to view other people as competitors because they may get what we want. Hurry before our friends and neighbors get the last bottle of hand sanitizer. Gossip against a co-worker so that when the layoffs happen, he will go first. That voice is not of God.
God motivates with love. His voice never communicates a sense of panic, nor does He seek to put me in a panic. Although He may prod me if I procrastinate, He never rushes me. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Being still involves listening for His voice and then responding in love.
I do not know Zion Williamson or his spiritual convictions, but this young basketball star offered to pay a month of salaries for a bunch of New Orleans arena workers. He was still enough to listen to concerns that were not his own. And then, once convicted, he took action that blessed others. It’s a good formula. All the “one another” verses in the Bible stress that God’s people share burdens and love each other, thus avoiding self-centered living. Yet the Bible also clearly communicates that God is sovereign, and we are not. We cannot fix everyone else’s problems, and God doesn’t expect us to. But if we listen and obey, He will use us to help lift burdens from other’s shoulders.
As we all begin to hunker down into this social distancing phase of our struggle against the virus, I pray that “the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” (2 Thess 3:16 NIV) We may have less physical contact with other people, but let’s make an extra effort to reach out to them in non-physical ways. When God puts people on your mind, send them texts, call them, or set up video chats. Look for ways to share the peace that has been given to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. (John 14:27 NIV)
If you have a story of how someone blessed you, please share.
Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. (2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV)
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