Perfect Peace

A small bird protected in the storm

Peace isn't when everything is going right.

Peace is when you know you are going to be alright when everything around you isn't.

Have you ever seen so many despondent people in the world? It seems everyone is always running, buying happiness, escaping to vacations to get away from the stress that is inevitable......the chaos is a madness that never stops. Yet, one would think that with the newest phones, lightning- speed communication, and virtual toys, we'd all be happier. People are still searching for peace, even Christians who know where to find it.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3

Recently in a service in our church, we had several song specials that revolved around rest and peace. Our Music Director is very organized; he wants to know what everyone is singing/playing (instrumentally) ahead of time so that there are no conflicts. However, I am very sure that he does not dictate to our vocalists what they should sing; he allows the Holy Spirit to do that. So, when I began to realize there was a theme, I started writing down the names of the songs and began mulling over a new thought for a Bible lesson on trust.

In my digging, I found a definition that became the core of my new study.
HAVEN: A place of safety; a refuge; a place offering favorable opportunities or conditions.

We all desire to be safe. Safe from harm; safe from problems; safe from mean people; safe from the devil....safe from the STORMS of life. How do we find refuge from a storm? We seek out a haven, a place of safety.  BUT, sometimes when there is no haven immediately available, we have to ride out the storm. And to ride out the storm, we need an anchor. Yes, Jesus Christ is our haven of rest. But, sometimes, He wants to prove Himself to us through the storm, so now, He becomes our anchor.

In researching anchors these past two days, I have found that there are dozens of types of anchors. This is interesting to me because I found that an anchor is not JUST needed for the ships of the sea! Let me share with you.

ANCHOR:
1. A device usually of metal attached to a ship or boat by a cable and cast overboard to hold it in a particular place by means of a fluke that digs into the bottom .
Sounds like the anchor we first think of.  In reading about storms, I've found that it is best to ride into the storm, allowing the anchor to just slow the whole thing down. However, one needs the right anchor and enough rope and lots of patience.
How terrible to be in a storm that life throws at us and not have the right anchor. Christian, our primary anchor isn't to be another human, it is to be Jesus.
But let's say that we ARE leaning on Christ, but our relationship is not solid. We have drifted away from HIM, and our rope, our lifeline is lacking strength. It has lost length or has become frayed and useless. We have to keep our relationship with Christ tough, and to be patient with what He wants us to learn.

2. a reliable or principal support
I love this. RELIABLE. Christian friends can be wonderful supporters in times of trouble; I try to "be there" for my friends too. But we are still only flesh. People will let you down, but our God will NEVER let you down.
3. something that serves to hold an object firmly
4. the member of a team (as a relay team) that competes last
Oh, to be the "anchor" in someone's life., pointing them to Jesus Christ! Or better yet, to be the one who throws out the lifeline to the overboard Christian in times of trouble!
5. a fixed object (as a tree or a piton) to which a climber's rope is secured
Piton: a spike, wedge, or peg that is driven into a rock or ice surface as a support (as for a mountain climber)
Jesus Christ is always the same, always there.  "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." He IS that piton that helps you "anchor" yourself firmly --- and you can be someone else's PITON as they get back to Jesus.

Three Observations I've made:
1.  When in a storm of life, Stay Still.
Psalm 6:10 -  "Be still , and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. "

"Don't make a decision when your decision-maker is broken."

- Dr. Jack Hyles

"When the believer is faced with a decision regarding a questionable matter, he should never proceed unless he has complete peace about it. If there is nothing wrong with it, then God is able to give complete peace."

-Dr. Curtis Hutson

"There cannot be any peace where there is uncertainty." -

 D.L. Moody

"The reward that outdoes all others is the peace of knowing that you did right."

- Dr. Jack Hyles

2.  Before the storm hits, PREPARE for it, and REMEMBER the other storms in which Jesus proved Himself to be your anchor.

Remember when the disciples were complaining in Mark 8? They had just seen a young girl healed of a devil and four thousand people fed from just a few fish and bread loaves, but they were still complaining. Why? They forgot the goodness of the Lord . Jesus said to them, "Having eyes see ye not? and  having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?"  Mark 8:18  How quickly we forget. Don't forget. Go back and remember, and stayed prayed up. Prepare your heart.

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace."

 - George Washington

3.  Realize that just because Christ is our anchor, it doesn't mean that you won't get wet or thrown about in the storm. He goes through the storm with us, riding the waves of life and guiding our ships to safety. It just takes time and patience.

"For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock." Psalm 27:5

"If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you know what His will is."

- Amy Carmichael

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To end my study, I've chosen a few special quotes from unique people whose lives have proven that they trusted God in the storm.

"In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that "underneath are the everlasting arms," (Deuteronomy 33:27) full of support, provision, comfort and strength."

- Oswald Chambers (traveled the world preaching the gospel only to die  in 1917 of appendicitis because he refused to use a bed needed by wounded soldiers)

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"If God be our God, He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble."

-Thomas Watson ( a Puritan preacher who died while praying in secret)

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"Were our spirits hardy we would be able to meet the most disturbing situation with peace and rest."

- Watchman Nee (imprisoned in China for his faith until his death in 1972)

Love, Stephanie