Retro Reality Check: Sit Down and Shut Up

[Editor's note: This Reality Check was published in February 2011 by SGM Radio website and was written by Lorraine Walker.]

Here it comes again. Can you feel the change in the wind? Another storm is approaching in your life to upset you and leave you shipwrecked emotionally, spiritually or even physically. You just wish Jesus would walk on water like He did in the Bible and say, “Peace!” to your storm. Well, maybe He is saying “Peace, be still”, but not to your storm. To you.

When Jesus said “Peace” that day in the Sea of Galilee, the word used at that time actually meant, “Silence! Hush! Be quiet!”. “Peace” meant an involuntary stillness, like telling an unruly child to sit down and shut up. It makes me wonder how much of that command was to the Sea, and how much was meant for the wailing disciples. With the amount of moaning and murmuring God must hear from us every time we are put out of our comfort zone, it’s no wonder He wants us to sit down, shut up, and listen to Him.

I’m not saying we don’t have reasons to be upset and angry about things that happen to us. I’m definitely not saying that we cannot question why ‘bad things happen to good people’. But maybe we spend too much time questioning, arguing and debating to hear any answer God may have for us. Jesus may be speaking to me right at the time I’m complaining, but my ears won’t work when my mouth is open.

If a child is acting out because they are hurt, they cannot receive the comfort being offered to them until they submit to the loving arms of the person trying to help. How similar this is to our relationship with our Lord. We keep acting out, from a feeling of pain or helplessness, yet we won’t submit to His arms of love. We know we will find comfort and peace there but we also know we give up whatever control we think we have. Sometimes we’d rather groan and complain and still think we can change the situation on our own. Perhaps one reason we enjoy our pity party is because we are the guest of honour.

It’s a hard thing to realize when a clear view of a bad situation turns inward to a feeling of victimization. It’s difficult because when we see ourselves as a victim, and others do too, again the focus is on us and it is human nature to like the attention. It takes a very strong person to admit their human frailty and run to God for strength and courage. Maybe we just don’t want to ask God for His deliverance because we don’t want to move on into the unknown glorious future. The ‘glorious’ part is lost on us; the ‘unknown’ part scares us to death.

Is your current storm causing you to cry out in fear and discouragement? Hear the words of Jesus: “Peace. Be quiet. Let Me talk to you in your situation and together we will get through it.” Listen to the Lord, sit down and shut up, and learn from the Master. The submission part may be really difficult, but would you rather drown?

Written by Lorraine Walker. First published in February 2011 on SGM Radio website.
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Retro Reality Check: Finding a Piece of Peace

By Lorraine Walker

There is something about the start of a new year that brings a feeling of restlessness. Maybe it’s the whole resolution thing, maybe it’s the advertisements that tell me I need to get organized, or maybe it’s the knowledge that I can no longer hide the clutter in my house under Christmas decorations. January means that it’s back to routine, time to start on those promises you made to yourself and time to catch up on whatever you put off during the holidays.

In the middle of all this energetic, back-to-reality, stressful living, I often find myself longing for the peaceful moments of watching lights twinkle on a tree or gazing at the face of a sleeping baby in a manger. And I wonder why this seems to elude me for much of the year.

It’s true that often we blame what is happening around us for the lack of peace in our lives when in reality it is the other way around. If we can’t find the peace in our lives, we have to look within for what is causing the disquiet. This is not an easy concept to grasp if you feel like things are spinning out of control and there is nothing for you to hold on to.

It amazes me when God has to smack me in the face with a truth that I’ve learned but have to keep relearning, over and over: I do indeed have control over my emotions, and I am also told to have control over my thoughts. I may have to tell my soul to rejoice, and often it is also an act of my will to experience God’s peace. Paul told us to LET the peace of God rule in our hearts. This tells me that if I am not experiencing God’s peace in my life it is because, for whatever reason, I am not letting His peace rule.

Last month I mentioned that Hope came to earth in a manger. Peace dwells in the same Person as Hope, and these two gifts from God dwell within us the same way. The apostle Paul also said, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

My New Year’s resolution this year? To let peace rule. Before there can be peace on earth, it must first be in me.

First published by SGM Radio website in January 2008. http://www.sgmradio.com/
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