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PEACE
ON EARTH?
by Pastor Jack Hayford
We were both
cloaked in heavy coats and scarves as we strode along together,
the skies above filled with winking stars etched into the inky backdrop
of space.
Christy, our
youngest daughter—a junior high school student—was with
me as we enjoyed one of our frequent walks—times we both looked
forward to. She was talking, her remarks initiated by the fact that
a friend’s house had recently been broken into and robbed.
"Ya know,
Dad, it really makes me afra—well, not afraid but it kinda
bothers me when...ya know...all the stuff that’s on the news...and
when bad things happen, like...well, robberies and killing and you
know, all that stuff...it sorta gets, well, it’s so much like...I
just wish that people would...ya know, Dad?"
Then, punctuated
by a sudden waving of arms, her voice squeaked higher: "You
know what I mean...I mean, I wish everything would be peaceful!"
I do know what
she meant. It doesn’t take the interpretive skills usually
necessary to understand a junior high schooler to feel what Christy
was talking about. We all get tired of living in a weary world;
a world worn by sin and death. A thousand manifestations of those
two factors surround us, but the end analysis is always the same:
The root is sin in the race and the fruit is death. Sin kills...it
kills joy, hope , love, trust, peace, and finally, people.
She continued.
"Sometimes I think it would be so-o-o nice to live somewhere
like Chippewa Falls [where her cousins live in Wisconsin]. Ya know,
I mean, I like it here in Los Angeles, and all my friends, and our
house, and my school, and...ya know, Dad."
"I know,"
I answered.
It was quiet
a minute, our footsteps alone breaking the silence. I squeezed her
hand reassuringly that I really did know how she felt.
"Chris,"
I began. "When you visited Amy and David in Chippewa Falls,
were there any police cars there?"
She replied
that there were, and I asked why she supposed so. She immediately
got the point.
"I guess,
Dad, because bad things happen everywhere...even in Wisconsin."
I went on,
trying not to sound too preacherly. "Honey, there’s no
place in the world you can go to find peacefulness, because there’s
no place in the world to get away from people who hurt and who hate.
Peace isn’t something that’s around you so much as it
is something that is inside you."
We talked a
lot more about that, and she evidenced that she really did understand.
And was satisfied...truly. For peace is knowing (1) you are right
with God, (2) you are right in your relationships, and (3) you are
living where God wants you to be...in His will. The angels’
message, "Peace on Earth," is not a tease or a taunt where
open hearts will let peace work its wonder. And that peace will
guard the heart that continues in confident surrender to the Father’s
will and way (Philippians 4:6,7). |
Jack
Hayford Ministries
14800 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91405-2233