Reflecting on “Being Still”
Colossians 3:15, And let the peace that comes from God rule in your heart.
This was a hard teaching for me to work on guys.
I remember in school there was a bully that I had to deal with. His name was Patrick, and Patrick was one of those guys who was like a 30 year old 5th grader! One of those kids who has been in 5th grade like 20 times and was like 7’9” tall and had lots of facial hair.
I remember one time when he pushed me and I pushed him back.
When two kids were going to fight in my day, other kids didn't try to stop it. Instead they yelled, "fight" so everyone else could come and watch.
I remember as the crowd came around when we were going to fight (or actually, I knew I was going to get killed), I saw a friend in the back gathering and I was hoping that he was going to help me out. But he didn’t. You see Patrick was bigger than him too, so he looked at me and rather than helping me, it was kind of like he was saying with his eyes, “Your own your own this time Ty.”
Sometimes we DON'T HAVE PEACE BECAUSE WE can see God and think He is like my friend who had good intentions, but had no power to help me. Sometimes we think that God may have good intentions, but He doesn’t have the power to help me. If God had good intentions, but no power, he is unable to come to our aid when we need Him.
Other times, we DON'T HAVE PEACE BECASUE WE may see God like the bully who had bad intentions and all the power in the world to end my life. We may recognize that God is powerful, but think that He doesn’t really like me anyways. If God had all the power, but bad intentions, we should be scared of him.
Now back to the fight (or beat down, whichever you want to call it). As the fight got started, Mrs. Oshiro, one of the teachers who everyone was afraid of, came barreling down the hallway. Do you guys have those teachers that everyone is afraid of? She was one of the most feared teachers at the school and she had ALL THE POWER and she had GOOD INTENTIONS (to save my life). The moment she came on the scene, the fight was all over. We need to remember that God has all the power to provide for us and all the good intentions or love to care for us.
Jesus is our friend, but He is not our homeboy. He is not our buddy. He is not lonely. He is not looking for friends on facebook, twitter, or myspace. He is our God and He is great all the time but there are so many times I don't have a peace with God or in my life..
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIBLE COLLEGE PROJECT.
I must admit. This project appeared on the surface to be much easier than it actually was. I was challenged to sit for thirty to sixty minutes in light of the scripture Psalm 46:10, to “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be praised in all the nations; I will be praised throughout the earth.”
At first I thought, “I’ll take a ride on my Harley Davidson and enjoy God’s presence on the road.” As I rode home from class, I realized that my senses and attention needed to be very focused on what was going on around me so much so, that this would not be an appropriate quiet time. When I got home, I thought I’d sit in the kitchen and just “be”. I then realized that the dishes needed to be washed and that my wife would not be happy with me just “being” when there were dishes in the sink. I then sat by the computer and my mind began to race. “Maybe while I am learning to ‘be’, I’ll work on our bills and the home equity loan that I needed to get some additional information for.” I realized that would be too distracting as well. My mind wandered toward my ipad. Maybe as I am “being still” I should put out some tweets on Twitter or a facebook post in order to encourage others to do so also. Surely my facebook friends or twitter followers needed
to hear from me. “No. That would be occupying my attention too much too. No facebook. No twitter.” I decided that I needed to relax. “Some time on the xbox would surely relax me.” Quickly I realized that that would not appropriate for my quiet time either. Not at all! I figured that devotions would be the way to go. Besides, in the next few weeks I am going to be speaking on three occasions to two different youth ministries. Maybe I should study for that during my quiet time. I understand however, that study time, is actually quite different from my quiet time, so I realized that would not do. Next I thought I’d go for a jog for a few miles to get some silence, so I picked up my itouch and headphones so I could listen to a podcast or some worship music as I ran. That seemed to deter me from my mission to be still too. The result? I went outside to lift some weights and listen to the radio as I was “being still.” That didn’t suffice either. A radio blaring and weights being pushed took my focus away from “being” as well. I went to the bedroom next. I laid on my back, looked at the ceiling, stared upward, and thought, “Now I can be still.” The next thing I remember about “being still” was waking up about forty five minutes later and having to get ready for dinner… and the dishes weren’t washed yet!
I went outside to see what my wife was doing when my “quiet time” (aka my schitzophrenic, confused, busy time that led to a nap), was over. I saw her sitting on a stool in the garden looking into the sky as she was taking a break from pulling weeds. She was just sitting,” enjoying the “pure loving gaze that finds God everywhere.” I told her my challenge with the reflection this week. She said, “I do that all the time… I love to just sit and enjoy God’s presence.” As I reflected on my quiet time I thought of Mary and Martha. I realize that I am not like Martha. I am Martha!!! My wife is very much like Mary.
Peace – this is a hard topic for me to speak on because I am a guy who has a hard time being at peace.
I may seem like a busy grown up now, but here's the thing, I learned to be a busy grown up because I was a busy kid when I was your age and I never learned to be at peace with God. I was too busy with sports, and tv, and video games (yes there was video games when I was young), friends (and what they thought of me), and
Central Truth: We need God’s peace in our everyday lives.
Someone once said, “Christianity is not about our disciplined pursuit of God, but about God’s relentless pursuit of us.” We can be at peace when we get that. I get that. I understand the concept and the idea behind the statement. For some reason however, I tend to live my life as if Christianity is all about my relentless, disciplined pursuit of God and I struggle with the notion of simply enjoy being in the presence of the God who loves me and lives in me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colossians 3:15, And let the peace that comes from God rule in your heart.
Let the peace that comes from Xbox that rule in your heart.
Let the peace that comes from Nintendo DS that rule in your heart.
Let the peace that comes from playing sports with your friends rule in your heart.
Let the peace that comes from God that rule in your heart.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How can we find peace in a busy fast paced life?
I often take inter-island trips to visit my family in Honolulu or Kauai. On those flights, I, along with the other passengers, listen to an unseen captain over the speakers. He gives us some information on the flight time and destination. Sometimes he may give us some information on the weather for the day. Still, he doesn’t give us each and every detail of the flight. Why should he? I wouldn’t understand it anyway.
So we put our trust in this unseen pilot. We trust that he will bring us safely to our destination. While flying over the ocean, we may not know which way is north, south, east, or west, but we trust that the pilot has flown this route before. He knows the way. Maybe there is some turbulence along the way.
Do we get frustrated, say, “I think the plane is going in the wrong direction! I’m outta here!” Do we give up on the pilot and jump out? Do we argue, “Well that person hurt my feelings, I’m leaving!” No. We patiently wait. We endure. Sometimes on the flight, I’ll even tend to close my eyes and take a rest.
Is our journey with the Lord any different? Listening to an unseen pilot speak. Hearing some information, but not every detail. Do we need to hear every detail? No. We wouldn’t understand it anyway. Maybe we should learn to put our trust in the Lord as our unseen pilot and captain. Maybe there will be turbulence along the way. Difficult passengers. Do we get up and say, “I’m not going to deal with this. I’m leaving.” Of course not. We endure because we know the importance of arriving at the destination. We sit back and endure the flight. Why? Because we trust the unseen pilot to do His job.
With God in our cockpits, we must learn to trust Him to do His job as well. With Him in our cockpits, we will not crash. Maybe sometimes, amidst all of the chaos and busyness of life, we too can sit back and rest, knowing that God is in control. Maybe we can learn to look to His face and trust our Heavenly Father.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That is the key by the way. It is important to believe God and doubt the enemy, but far too often, we doubt God and believe the enemy!
MAYBE YOU HAVE HEARD THE DEVIL'S SERMONS. I'VE HEARD THEM QUITE OFTEN. HE WHISPERS THEM IN OUR EARS.
You're not good enough...
You're not smart enough...
Your friends don't really like you...
You can't follow God so why try...
You're not special...
YOU NEED TO LEARN JUST LIKE I DID, TO FINISH THE DEVIL'S SERMONS!!!
You're not good enough... yeah but I am a new creation in Christ Jesus, old things have passed away, behold all things are new!
You're not smart enough... but I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind
Your friends don't really like you... but if God is for me who can be against me?
You can't follow God so why try... but Devil I am more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ
You're not special... but God says that He has a plan for me for welfare and not for calamity to give me a future and a hope.
The Prophets of the Old Testament always cried out for God’s people to believe God and doubt the enemy! That was great advice then and it is great advice now. Believe God for His very best. Doubt the enemy for his worst!
Why should we believe God?
Let me read you another verse then I'll explain it to you.
Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example of Ty and a bird in Kanilehua.
I remember a time when I was working at a dorm in Hilo. The place I worked at had a lounge that was like a large fishbowl with high ceilings and one day, a bird flew into the lounge. Because there were so many windows, the bird would fly full speed into the windows and kept smashing its little head into the glass trying to escape.
I got a sheet and raced around the room chasing the bird and trying to catch it so I could release it outside, but it was hard to catch. I thought, “Boy this is a dumb bird! All I am doing is trying to help it out!” Then I realized that it must be scary for a giant trying to catch you by throwing a sheet over you.
How could I get this bird to understand that I am not trying to kill it?
I could tell it that I was just there to help, but I don’t speak “bird-a-nese” so it wouldn’t understand me.
I could write it a letter, but the bird can’t read so that won’t help much.
Maybe I could do sign language! That probably wouldn’t help much either.
What if I could become a bird? Maybe I could come alongside the bird and speak in bird talk to lead him out of the dorm myself.
If I could become a bird, maybe I could explain in bird talk that I was not intending bad for him, but for good.
Only one problem with that idea. Even if I could become a bird, so that I could communicate with the lost and confused bird in the dorm, you know, I don’t care enough about that bird to become a bird to communicate with it. I am not willing to leave my life, to become a bird and lead that lost bird out of the dorm!
Jesus, in His mercy, cared enough to leave heaven behind and come to earth to communicate with us on how we can have a relationship with God. I wouldn’t be willing to leave my comforts for the sake of a bird, but Jesus was willing to leave everything behind to make sure that you and I, would be able to know Him.
JESUS BECAME A MAN TO SHOW US HOW TO HAVE PEACE WITH GOD!!!
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been made right in the sight of God by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” He came as one of us so we can have peace with God!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colossians 3:15, And let the peace that comes from God rule in your heart.
There are two birds that fly over our nation’s deserts: One is the hummingbird and the other is the vulture. The vultures find the rotting meat of the desert, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.
INVITATION:
Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus. Lord Jesus, thank you came to give Your life for me. I turn away from my sin. Come into my heart. I receive You as my Lord to lead my life. I receive You as my Savior, to save my soul. I receive the forgiveness of my sin. Change me. Strengthen me. Make me more like You Jesus. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
PRAY FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO NEED TO HAVE MORE PEACE IN YOUR LIFE.
