{"id":5839,"date":"2022-08-05T17:47:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T07:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nlec.org.au\/english\/?p=5839"},"modified":"2022-08-05T17:47:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T07:47:47","slug":"saturday-6-august-2022-life-and-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nlec.org.au\/english\/saturday-6-august-2022-life-and-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday 6 August, 2022 – Life and Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. \u2013 Romans 8:5<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace. Would you like more of it? I think there would be very few people who would reject more, or deeper, peace. From the hippies of the 60s and 70s who sought it in free love and illicit substances, to the transcendent detachment of the Buddhist, to the person who wants to live \u2018authentically\u2019 and cut out all that is negative and \u2018toxic\u2019 from life, we see many different forms of and paths to peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of mindfulness, decluttering, and the sometimes-misplaced advice to extend that decluttering from things to people, seems to indicate that we are a culture in search of peace. The prevalence (and increase) of anxiety across, it seems, all demographic categories in the global north seems to indicate that we are a culture that is failing to find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is true, there are real mental health concerns and appropriate treatment should be sought, but I wonder whether the general trend is the result of minds, whole societies, governed by the flesh. The pandemic\u2019s impacts were many and varied, but the underlying realisation that punched so many of us in the gut was the shattering of our illusion of control. Piled on top of this were concerns around health, finance and economy, and social restrictions. We lost many of the ways in which we may have previously distracted ourselves from the truth. We came face-to-face with our weakness and the fragility of so many of the systems we thought were invulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve been working hard, as a society, to cover over the mess, to deflect attention elsewhere and try to pretend things are getting back on track; but the truth is that every society through all time has had to reckon with this simple truth: we are not in control. You can attempt to ignore it, though it will mean that there will be times where the illusion is shattered, or you can face it. For those who choose to face it, their choice will be whether to acknowledge God, or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Paul is right in what he says here, and I believe he is, the only way to know any sort of meaningful peace is to have a mind that is governed by the Spirit of God. All other forms of peace, apart from God, turn out to be contingent i.e. dependent on something (which in turn is dependent on something, and on it continues). Only a peace that is rooted in the self-existent, unchanging God will never be moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is only this sort of rootedness that enables us to have minds that are <\/em>life and peace, by implication, that bring <\/em>life and peace into every situation and setting, even to those we may be tempted to cut out because they are difficult, negative people; even to situations that seem completely hopeless. This is the sort of peace the Daniel and his friends faced in the lion\u2019s den (Daniel 6) and in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3). This is the sort of peace that enabled Jesus to say (paraphrased) \u201cyou meant well\u201d to His closest friends when they fell asleep at a time of such strain that He sweat blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder whether you have spoken to older Christians, not old in age necessarily, but old in the number of years in which they have known and loved Jesus. I know an older Christian couple who have endured one health concern after another, and who have some real concerns for the choices their children are making; and yet when I speak to them, they are full of interest and concern for me. They smile and express gratitude. They don\u2019t minimise or try to hide their concerns or difficulties, they ask for prayer and are glad to share their burdens, but the way they carry their burdens is unique. They are people who have been sanctified over their lives to trust God with their burdens, to know that God is good, and to place their hope in what is certain rather than temporary outcomes. They are people truly walking in God\u2019s ways. Their lives bring peace and life wherever they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your concerns right now? What is unsettling you, even making you anxious? What issues occupy your mind, maybe even invade your dreams? Are there people or settings you avoid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pause here with God. Dig into these things and see what is driving your distress. Are there things you are trying to control? Are you clinging to particular outcomes? Are you being proud or self-centred, or holding onto grudges? Is there an issue of sin or misunderstanding in someone else that you need to forgive and lovingly bring to their attention?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we need to make peace with God, to bring our sins, weaknesses and burdens to Him. Second, we need to make peace with ourselves, seeing ourselves in the light of God\u2019s love, as His beloved child who is sinful and weak, but not condemned. Third, we need to make peace with those around us, sometimes by making peace broken relationships and other times in the way we are able to show love and concern beyond ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that we need to hold to God\u2019s truths, allowing those truths to shape our minds in such a way that they will manifest in our words and actions. This isn\u2019t easy, and it isn\u2019t something we can do by sheer willpower. This is how we grow in holiness as the Holy Spirit forms and shapes us by His power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer focus:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n