Written by Joan Osborne from the Village Church.
Most of us have a deep need to control what happens to us. The trouble is, we can’t. We plan, we hope, we dream; but life just happens. In the last eight months, my world has been a nonstop flood of “happenings.” I’d soldier through one nightmare and wake up to a new one. That pattern repeated countless times, and it has taken me down. Like most Christians, I turned to God in prayer to see me through each crisis, but I found myself variously angry, frustrated, and very, very afraid when nothing changed. The chaos didn’t stop, no matter how much I prayed. Where is peace amid upheaval? To partake of the peace of God requires surrendering to what He really wants: for us to change. We need to surrender our will to His, not the other way around. That takes a commitment to practice being with God in a new way, a way that doesn’t include insisting on what we want, but on trusting that God will be with us, no matter what. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s the secret to a peaceful life: trusting God. The model for that trust is Jesus at the cross. He used his solitary time for fasting, meditation, and prayer to be always with his Father. He spent his time for others—teaching, loving, and healing those around him. His life was steadfastly focused on God’s work, God’s will. He also knew what He was facing: a battle with evil and the pain of what he would endure. His refuge was His father’s love for Him. He could trust that; He could surrender to that because He felt it every day. As He faced the cruelness ahead, He cried, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42). When our focus is on God’s love and God’s will instead of our own, we can face whatever comes our way. God gives us that peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [John 14:27]
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