Mute Button
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9
Insight
Our home is often loud. With three toddlers in the house, someone is almost always singing, trying to tell a story, and often crying. The volume consistently seems to be going up. My husband combats this by playing loud music and dancing with the kids. On the other hand, I wish there was a magic mute button to bring the chaos down just a little.
Something I have learned over the years is that peace for me and peace for my toddlers look very different. I want us to always use inside voices and move from one place to another calmly. Instead, they want to shout with excitement and ram their toy cars into each other while singing the Paw Patrol theme song for the twentieth time that day. I often get fixated on this vision of peace and quiet, but the reality is, that is not how God defines it. His peace looks like a stability not dependent on circumstances but centered on a deep dependence on Him. Peace can look like quiet and calm moments, but it can also look like loud, crazy fun.
We are naturally wired to desire things to go our way, and so instead of bringing peace and stability to situations, we often bring control and power to make things go our way. If I'm honest, just thinking about within my family, I usually use my authority to reach my desire and miss the opportunity to elevate God. Being a peacemaker is not about making everyone be quiet and forcing people to comply with my vision of how things should go. Instead, a peacemaker brings stability and gratitude to whatever circumstance they face. They work for unity and point people towards God's foundation of love. A peacemaker highlights God's work and helps others submit to His authority.
On Sunday, Mike talked about bending the culture. I think bringing gratitude and stability to the world around us is how we take a step in making that a reality. It isn't forcing everyone to do things your way but instead bringing people together to follow God's way. Even with the world's chaos, whether that be the chaos of kids running around or the chaos that we see on the news and social media, God is working and with us. He does not leave us and wish us luck amid turmoil, but instead, He is here and working for the redemption of the relationship He desires with every one of us.
Reflection
How would you define peace? How does God define it?
What does it look like to bring peace to those around you?
Prayer
God, thank you for being with me and working in and through me. I pray that as I go through my days, I wouldn't look for ways to make people or my circumstances comply with what I want, but that instead, I would submit to Your authority and invite others into the stability that brings. I pray that You would use me to bring peace to those I interact with and that they would see more of You through me. Amen.
Katie Robinson, Children's Ministry Home Coordinator, wrote today's devotional.