FINDING PEACE

Dawn, Kiawah Island, SC

Sunrise, Kiawah Island, SC

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
--Philippians 4:6-7

When adversity enters our life, finding peace becomes a challenge. Finding the right response becomes a challenge. I ran across an intriguing breakfast analogy some time ago that stuck with me. Actually, I now recall two of them that relate to fixing breakfast. The first teaches the difference between a chicken and a pig regarding commitment. When it comes to a breakfast of bacon and eggs, the chicken is involved but the pig is very committed! The second analogy involves another egg and a coffee bean regarding our response to life.

Consider hot, boiling water as the adversary. Both the egg and coffee bean are exposed to it this morning. The fragile egg becomes hardened inside once the heat is turned up. But the coffee bean actually goes with the flow and changes both itself and its environment. Each responded differently.

Do life's challenges create in us a purer heart or a hardened heart? We cannot change the winds, but we can adjust the sails. We cannot control many things in our lives, but we are in control of our response to them. Trusting God to help see us through life and striving to follow Jesus’ teachings will give us guidance in our response as we adjust our sails to set a course towards eternity. And it generally is indeed darkest before the dawn, but that trust will lead us to the new days light.

“Thanks to Christ, this earth can be the nearest you’ll come to hell.
But apart from Christ, this earth is the nearest you’ll come to heaven.”
--Max Lucado, 3:16, The Numbers of Hope.