eye of storm

There's one moment of the day when I never fail to breathe a sigh of sheer contentment and experience an intense sense of well being and peace. If I could bottle the feeling it would make me a millionaire over night, although I imagine there are many who have their own special daily moments that leave them in this blissful state.

For me it comes at exactly 7.20 am, Monday to Friday, as I kiss Matthew on the cheek and wave a cheerful "Goodbye! Have a good day!" from the front door. Kylie is always ahead of him by at least two minutes, and as I see my son run like the speed of light to catch up, the weight of the world always seems to lift from my shoulders.

Nothing can compare to the frantic activity of that brief hour and a half each work-day morning. Kylie manages to move fairly smoothly from the moment she staggers out of bed at 6 am until she leaves for the bus-stop, but Matt is a different case altogether. Just getting him out the door on time is a daily challenge that causes my blood pressure to rise in direct proportion to his slowness. Everything is a distraction and nothing is more certain to make me explode than to walk past his room at 7.15 and find him still draped in his bath towel reading a comic book.

The miracle is that in five minutes he's able to move like greased lightening and is yet to miss the bus. But how much easier it would be if he just stayed focused each morning and didn't constantly stir up a whirlwind of activity at the last minute.

Yet, it's surviving that whirlwind that leads to the moment of intense peace each morning when the door is finally shut. Without the raging storm of Cyclone Matthew, I would never know how good it feels to bask in the serenity of the aftermath.

The world's definition of peace relates to those times when there's an absence of conflict, cessation of hostilities and freedom from all stressful situations. It's totally dependent on the circumstances and attitudes of those around us. But the peace of God comes in spite of these things. In fact, God promises that those who are righteous in His sight, will know His peace. As Isaiah prophesied:

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest."

I don't know about you, but that sounds so good to me! As children of God we should be living in this perfect state of peace all the time - not just when the stress-producing events are over, but always. The unfortunate reality is that way too often we live in the exact opposite.

As wonderful as that beautiful sense of calm is each morning when the children are on their way to school, the real test is whether I can experience that same thing in the hour and a half before they walk out the door.

For the Christian, living with the fruit of God's peace doesn't mean that the storms of life won't come near us. It would be foolish to believe that the Christian is suddenly immune from all the hardships of life, as appealing as that may seem. Instead, we have the promise of an inner serenity and tranquility in spite of the turmoil that may be raging around us. In fact, we shouldn't try to avoid the tempests of life. That's not only impossible but it also ignores what Jesus told His disciples when He said that in this world they would have trouble (John 16:33). Instead, when these "cyclones" hit, we should choose to live right in the center holding firmly to the Rock of our salvation. In fact it's when we're positioned with Christ in the eye of the storm that we find the greatest calm and peace of all.

Instead of making do with the temporal and fickle well-being that comes and goes in response to our emotional highs and lows, we need to tap into the Source of the peace that abides and remains.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

But how many of us make a point of living it every day? I know that I get it right some times, but all too often I allow things to steal God's peace in my life. From the smallest of imagined fears right through to the largest of real events, I way too often let these things dictate to my soul. As a Christian there's really only one thing I should be doing with any anxiety, and that, quite simply, is to give it to God.

It sounds incredibly easy and far too simplistic, I know. Yet, that's the truth. God longs for His children to walk in peace. Not peace as the world knows it, but peace that the world can't comprehend. It's not something we have to strive or struggle for; it freely comes when we're living as led by the Holy Spirit. It comes when we learn to surrender all.

One of the most common things I pray for people is for God to flood them with His peace. The reality is that He's more than willing to do that. We have to be willing to receive it.

I had a couple of things I wanted to include in this article, but they just didn't quite make the final cut. So I have to add them in here. One was this wonderful "ouch" quote: