A couple of years ago, a woman came
by my office. She had been through a
lot, was dealing with many issues and things were pretty complicated in her
life. We talked for a bit but despite
the complexities, he question was fundamentally simple. She wanted to know how to worry less. The Bible speaks of “the peace that
transcends understanding”, but how do you get there, and how do you find it in
the messes of life?
I have come to learn that this
person and question is representative of many.
At times our anxiety is paralyzing.
Our fears tend to dominate and rise to the top of our lives. The amount of time spent in fear and anxiety
takes away from so many of the things we could do or enjoy. So how do we find peace in the midst of the
challenges of life?
We are going to speak about this a
good bit more this weekend in worship, but to get us started, I came across a
helpful illustration this week by Mike
Bechtle, in an article for Discipleship journal;( quoted in the
October 21, 2008, entry of Men of Integrity (September/October 2008)
He spent some time working on his
lawn and noticed something that may be clear to many. He was fighting all the weeds in his yard,
but observed that the weeds would tend to grow in the clear and bare patches of
ground. He would reach down, pull the
weeds, but within a few days, more weeds were back.
In contrast, he noticed that there were
not nearly the same amount of weeds in the places where there was grass, and
virtually none where the grass was thick.
There was simply no room for them in the thick turf.
Lawn care folks will tell you that the
way to get rid of weeds is not just by pulling them out but also by planting new
grass. It is the same way with worry and
anxiety. We think that the way to find peace is by pulling up all the weeds and
things that cause that angst. We would
have a clear patch of good circumstance and life will be better and care-free. But of course, the weeds come back.
A better option is to plant grass in
those bare spots. When we plant healthy
material, there is not as much room for the anxiety to grow. And so perhaps the way to reduce anxiety and
to find peace is to plant seeds of peace.
Engage life pro-actively with acts of worship, kindness, encouragement,
and love for others. Don’t spend your
life pulling anxieties but instead planting peace. Plant those things in the patch of a soul and
perhaps we will find that there is not so much time for worry and fear to crop
up.
The road to peace is certainly more
complicated, but at the same time, it is a beginning place. I hope you will join me in worship this
weekend. We are going to speak more fully
to this as we strive to discover a different kind of peace this Christmas. See you there!
Pastor Pete
