Years ago, a major art gallery sponsored a competition for painters and they were offering prizes for the best painting on the subject of “Peace.” The painting that won was a real surprise. The scene was the ocean in a violent storm. The sky was ominous, the lightning was cutting across the sky, and the waves were crashing into the rock walls of the cliffs by the shore. Where was the peace? You had to look twice to understand what was going on. There, about halfway up the cliff was a birds’ nest tucked into a tiny hollow in the rock. A mother bird was sitting on that nest with her little babies tucked underneath her, SLEEPING SOUNDLY. That was peace!
Peace is not just the absence of a storm, but true rest in the middle of the storm. Many of us could use that kind of peace right now, and it is the kind of peace that you can have right now IF you’re resting in Christ, where you ought to be. “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble…we WILL NOT FEAR, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea…Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah…The LORD of hosts is WITH US…” (Psalms 46:1-5, 7)
The more troubled things are, the more present God makes Himself. “Be still (rest), and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Realize that as long as you’re in His hands, there’s no such thing as out of control. He is still God and you are still His!
-Bill Stockham