Dare to be YOU! Introduction to Brandlady.com
|
The Road to Peace
Kathlyn Fauchon,
E veryone looks for peace. We just want a quiet space, a moment to escape the pressures and stresses in our lives. Peace can be found but not on our terms.
One day while working in my kitchen I became angry with my family about something. I remember the anger rising up in my body. The end result would surely have been a shouting match. We have plans and goals. If these plans don’t go our way we often react inappropriately. It is the old story of me first. Family feuds have been driven by such actions.
As I felt the anger rising I remembered certain atmospheric storms that had been stilled by the God who created the universe. Using his name I commanded the anger in me to “Be still.” It subsided instantly. I’ll never forget it. What a powerful name!
Now that doesn’t mean I’m perfect. I still struggle with my self will but now I have a helper. However the experience inclines my heart to be faithful to the name. If I should turn in another direction I know peace will never be mine.
With self in control we will be travelling on a dead end road. This road leads us far away from the peace we long to have. It is like a kitten playing with a ball of wool. Eventually it will become entangled and need to be rescued. If there is only one strand it can easily break the hold but the more strands the greater the hold. Wrapped and wrapped in the wool the kitten will need to be rescued. So it is with us when we are determined to go our own way.
Self says I demand my rights. Our faces are hard and our words and actions threatening. With this kind of attitude we push people away from us. Or maybe we demand our rights by turning on tears, self-righteous tears. Our words are manipulative. Either way it is putting self first and such attitudes drive peace far away, not to mention friends and family.
A story is told of a king who owned a vineyard. He put tenants in charge because he had to go on a journey. The tenants did not pay the rent so the king sent representatives to collect. The tenants beat them and treated them badly. Finally the king sent his son. When the son came the tenants killed him. It begs the question what will happen to those tenants when the king returns?
If having been helped in my struggles by the greatest power of all, and I then look in another direction I would be just like the tenants in the story. Just as I must battle my self will I must also battle other desires such as to know the future for instance. There are so many traps laid for us, ones that tempt the “I want” and “me first” in us.
Do we really want peace? Then self must not be gratified. To do this we must trust the one who personifies Peace.
Kathlyn Fauchon. January 2009.
|
Kathlyn Fauchon Kathlyn is a mother and a grandmother. She lives in retirement with her husband on the Central Coast of NSW Australia.
Kathlyn writes for www.4Him2U.com and also for www.peggyblannphifer.com |
|
|