From Carolyn…
Good Morning, Friends,
So much of the world is in turmoil these days. As I look around so many of our friends have a measure of turmoil, pain and grief in their homes and in their hearts. Perhaps you can relate. Whether it's that one child who is always on your mind, or the next doctor's appointment for a health issue that does not go away, or too much month at the end of the paycheck. Or perhaps it is decisions that keep stacking up and you just don't know what change will bring.
As I was thinking of the muddles of life and the turmoil they can stir up in a heart, it reminded me of something that happened years ago in Palo Alto.
David and Ron Ritchie were asked to officiate at a funeral for the son of a missionary couple they knew. The young man rode with the Hell's Angels and died of a knife attack in San Francisco. The funeral was held in the woods in a basin in the Santa Cruz mountains. A large number of the Hells Angels all rode up together on their bikes. After the service where Jesus and the gospel were presented, the leader of the Angels came up to David and said,
"I've got a putt and a pad and my 'ole lady, but I ain't got no peace."
Sometimes in the turmoil we all realize we "ain't got no peace." Well, how do we get the peace God has promised, even after we have peace with Him?
Psalm 131 has been on my mind recently.
Psalm 131
A song of ascents. Of David
1 My heart is not proud, Lo, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself. I am like a weaned child with its mother; Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.
I love that picture of a toddler resting on his mother, no fuss, no demands, no trauma. Just peace. And I have come to see it is possible to rest childlike on God and be at peace if we have done the two things above this picture. First, the psalmist had humbled himself before the Lord, not demanding or a proud look at the situation. Next, David realized and agreed that some things he will not understand. But God does. So David could rest peacefully and be content.
It wasn't that David just said, "Whatever." or "Oh well." But he was learning to trust God for the future. As he put his hope in the Lord he could wait in peace. Even when he did not understand. He knew the Lord as the child knew his mother.
This is not a one time thing, of course. But it is a posture we can take over and over.
Today I am praying for you to keep the picture of the peaceful child in your heart as I am praying to keep it in mine. I am praying you will find the "peace that passes understanding" as you learn that the Lord is worthy of ruthless trust, It's a process. The Holy Spirit is our Helper.
With Love from Above,
Carolyn
