Finding peace

I remember talking to a Malaysian friend and he was telling me how hectic Singapore felt compared to his home.  Everyone in Shenton Way walking 100 miles an hour, and the almost palpable sense of frenzy, a sort of buzz in the air.  Having just returned to Singapore from a trip to Hong Kong, I thought to myself that that was exactly how I felt about Hong Kong compared to Singapore!

I suppose that's why many of us like taking beach holidays in places like Bali, or come back from driving trips to Western Australia gushing about the relaxed pace of life there.

Maybe we're worried about our children's future - PSLE, 'O' levels, 'A' levels.  Or we fear getting older, getting ill.  Or perhaps family struggles - difficult spouse, children, parents or in-laws.  And of course, this being Singapore, the demands of work, work and more work... Depending on where you are in life, there's just a slew of things that gnaw at us day after day.  So where's the peace?

The story is told of an art gallery which held a competition on the theme of "Peace".  The winning painting turned out to be of the scene of an ocean tempest, with lightning crackling through the atmosphere, torrential rain, and surging waves, crashing against the jagged face of some inhospitable cliffs.  Where was the peace?

On a tiny ledge, there is a nest.  And on that nest, is a mother bird.  Closely snuggled next to her are her chicks, sound asleep.

That.  Is.  Peace.

Sometimes we think peace is found if we retreat from the battle - just stay away from troublesome relatives, or lie low at work, or pretend an issue doesn't exist with our rebellious children.  We try to find "alone time" at a quiet beach or even an empty church.

But at some point, we have to dive back into real life.

Have you ever been lost, driving in pouring rain?  Not much peace there.  The wipers are at full speed, trying their best to give you visibility, but it still feels dangerous because you can't really see in front or around you.  Worse, you're not sure where you are, whether you need to turn at the next junction, and if there's an unexpected collision awaiting around the corner.  Stressful!

We can stop in a covered lay-by.  Then there's some respite.  But we're still in the middle of nowhere.  And we still need to head back into the rain.  Until we figure out where we are and start moving off to our destination, we're still lost.  But when we've looked at the map, found our destination and route, and moved off - ah, there's peace.  Even in the rain - we now know where we're going and how we're going to get there!

So peace isn't found in a beautiful building, or quiet surroundings.  Peace is found when we are in the midst of trouble, and we are serene inside.  And we are serene not merely because we have emptied ourselves, but because we have found direction.  If you're lost in a storm, are you really comforted if you go ohmmmm.... I'll just hang around here and it doesn't matter where I am?  No of course not.  You figure out the way home, then you have peace.

Real peace is found when we go out, with a sense of purpose and direction, and when we are right in the middle of this messy world, we bring peace to that situation, and to those around us, not when we retreat to shelter.  Quite interestingly, the Bible doesn't say blessed are the peaceful.  It says blessed are the peacemakers.  For they will be called children of God.  Matthew 5:9

Finding peace is not about meditative "inner peace".  It is about moving forward.  Don't settle for less - respite, by itself, is not peace.  There's nothing wrong with seeking respite.  In fact it's great to take time to be still.  Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God".

But the purpose of being still, is to gather yourself, grab hold of God, and then move forward with purpose.  Jesus promises this peace in John 14:27, 31  "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid... Come now; let us leave."

When did Jesus say these words?  Just before He was arrested and later crucified.

Peace in the midst of the storm.  Not merely respite from the rain.

Blessing all of you with a peaceful weekend and a fruitful week to come!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bullying? Stand up!

Image
When I was a kid, I remember being bullied a fair bit.  I was small for my age, bespectacled, shy.    The teachers didn't help by putting a target on my back by making me Vice Head Prefect.  I would get my stuff just taken away from me by bigger kids, dragged out into the field to be tickled until I collapsed (much less fun than it sounds), and pushed into the storm drains.  Not all the kids were full-blown bullies of course.  But I remember some of them standing by, and politely holding my spectacles (so they wouldn't be broken) while the bullies did their work on me. Most of this stopped when I got to secondary school, where a much larger proportion of my fellow students were now just as nerdy!  And of course I grew up too.  I don't really look back on those days with any kind of animosity, because I think it never occurred to me that it was unusual.  But I do think my experience made me a bit more sympathetic about people around me who are being bullied. When you
Read more

Life as a pie chart

Image
Someone told me recently about a "life exercise" in which one compiles all the stuff that makes up your life, and puts it in a pie chart.  So let's say for me, something like this. The idea is to visually demonstrate to myself that, in the event I lose one of these things, then I can see that, hey life is not so bad, that wasn't such a big deal.  Say for example, if I suffered a blown ACL, and couldn't run or play basketball any more, like this: At first blush - I'd say, hey, I still have my wife, children, parents, career, church life - so, chin up, things are not so bad.  Pretty good life visualisation tool to bring some optimism back into play! ... But what if, a month later, something happens at work, and boom, career gets sidetracked, I lose my job, or get put in cold storage somewhere, like this: Oops, now only half my life is left!  With only half of life's meaning left to me, what do I do? And what if something happens to
Read more

Family AND Team

Image
I heard an interesting viewpoint this weekend. A family is not inherently a team. Hmm.  Sometimes at work, often in church, and most of the time at home, you hear people say to each other that we are family. And often, we really are. We care for each other above and beyond transactional matters.  It matters to me when my colleagues and cell group members (and of course my actual family members) go through illnesses or family issues or work challenges. I root for their success at presentations and projects and relationships. I care about what they care about, even if it has little direct impact on my own life. In a way, a family is sort of an amalgam of people who support each other in pursuit of each member's personal goals. For example, as a father, I support my children in their academic, career and ministry goals. But where they go to school, the grades they get, and the careers and ministries they build - they're really their goals, not mine.  Ditto for my role as a church
Read more