Unshackled Moments ~ December 6 ~ Pass The Peace Please

There are some things that are contagious even though that are not diseases. Yawns are contagious. So is laughter, and smiles seem to be either contagious or instigators of anger. Speaking of anger, it can be contagious too. Ever seen one person get a little out of control and go off on someone, who then in seconds is giving back as good as they were getting or better? Anger and rage create their own clones as enemies. But what if that second person or group doesn't catch the contagious anger buzz? What if they don't react? What if they have the peace that passes understanding and isn't shattered by some angry jerk?

The anger burns itself out quickly without reactions to feed on. Peace is contagious too. Whenever I think along these lines I can't help but go back in memory to my teen years and an episode that could have been just horrible and embarrassing but instead taught me something about peace. My father wanted to take me deer hunting one cold morning. We got up, bundled up and drove about half an hour or a so to the place we'd be hunting at. It was upon exiting the vehicle that I realized I'd screwed up. In my rush to get ready and get to the woods before daylight I forgot to grab the rifle. I know, right. How stupid.

And that's how I felt. I was frustrated, angry and embarrassed. We got back in the car and headed home. I offered to let Dad go on to his stand while I went back for the rifle, but in his wisdom Dad decided putting an angry and rushed 16-year-old on the road was probably not the best idea. I sat in the passenger seat berating myself, basically throwing a temper tantrum and trying not to cuss too much in front of Rev. Daddy. Dad didn't tell me to stop acting like a 2-year-old. He didn't say calm down. He didn't tell me that what I was doing wasn't going to make it better. In fact, he didn't say anything. He ignored me.

He stuck a praise and worship cassette in the player and began to quietly sing along as he drove us back for the gun. After a minute I felt foolish and quite disrespectful to be raising a fuss while he was listening to his music, so I shut up, sat there and fumed quietly. He kept driving, kept praising God and kept not reacting to me. Soon, I calmed down. It didn't matter. It was inconvenient, but it would be OK. There was no point in acting a fool or beating myself up over a simple mistake that most certainly was not the end of the world or even in the Top 50 list of my major screw ups. By the time we got back to the woods I was at peace, even though I didn't really realize why at the time and most certainly did not have the same relationship with my Creator that Dad had.

I didn't have the peace that passes understanding in my life at that time. In fact, about the only time that I felt anything remotely like peace was when I was too high to care about life being stressful and full of fear. But Dad had peace, not the peace of the world but the peace that God gives. Not only is it unshakable by situations and circumstance, but it can be passed to others.

We who have found a life worth living and freedom through surrender to God are sometimes the first or only source of light and truth and seeing the love, power and way of God that someone in need of help and freedom sees. The road to recovery is sometimes called one of attraction rather than promotion, meaning that we are to live in such a way that people want what we have and ask us how to get it rather than us who have it going around trying to convince everyone that they need what we have. Don't tell someone they need Jesus. Live in such a way that what relationship with Jesus is draws those who need him like moths to flame.

We who have wakened spiritually as a result of taking the steps to relationship with God are called to share what we have with those who are still suffering and to walk in the truth and life and will of God in all our affairs, in every area and situation of life. Now, we can't do that without grace, and we will drop the ball from time to time. Thank God for forgiveness. But that is the mark to aim for. And part of doing that is to keep our eyes on Jesus and not react in the old ways, according to the default of the old programming when stress and fear and insecurity hit. When we check our reactions through the Spirit of God, regardless of the craziness and stress of life, peace can remain. And that peace is appealing to those who desire peace. That peace can be contagious and calm those around us. That peace can shine the light of God's glory, power, love and way of life. That peace can cause others to want what we have.

So as the days to prepare for Christmas dwindle away and the stress of not completing what we feel we need to rises and everyone is going crazy around us, let us hold onto our peace by staying surrendered to His control, and let us change our little corner of the world by passing the peace along rather than joining the crazy.



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