Pastor Warren reflects ...

In my reading recently I came upon this comment. “How can we claim Christian success unless our hearts are calm and quiet? Thomas Kelly, the eminent Quaker philosopher, said that inside each person there should be a quiet centre that nothing can disturb. The great Christian mystics continually talked of the throne of God, which is in the innermost part of our heart, where no storm, tribulation, or temptation can disturb.”

Now, I want a heart like that, where God has set up a throne, which no storm nor temptation can disturb! I want a peace like that!! This is not to say that we would never be touched by life’s storms or feel the pressure of evil, quite the opposite. This means that when tough and troubling times come, as they inevitably do, that we will be so settled in our connection with God, that we will not be unduly rocked or rattled. We will have the strong sense that no matter how hard it gets, God will hold us firm in his loving care, keeping our lives on track and within God’s will.

This takes my mind to Paul’s words in his letter to the Philippians (4:6-7), concerning gaining God’s peace through committing our concerns to prayer rather than continuing to worry about them. Whenever we find ourselves worrying, we should pray! And when we pray we should remind ourselves of those many things we have learnt along the journey – that God is loving and faithful to us, that God has our best interests at heart, that God is listening to our every word (even to our wordless groans of pain), that God is drawing alongside us (and meeting us in our place of need), that God is already working in the circumstances that we are praying about, and that an answer to our prayers is close. All this mental affirmation will tend to take away the worry; we are still concerned (for we care very much), but the outcome is in hand.

We can pray concerning all our needs, but, as Paul reminds us, we pray in thankfulness, for we know the right answer is coming, even if this is not the answer we expect or think we want. This thankful context to our prayers gains us new perspective, whereby we discover what we think were needs may have only been ‘wants’ or desires that really would not have been in our best interests. Such an assurance as this of course depends upon maintaining and developing the quality of our relationship with God. Such an assurance and awareness of God’s presence and care in our lives doesn’t just happen, but we have to steadily work at it (as I have already described).

But truly we can gain a peace that nothing can ultimately disturb, because we know for sure that God is on our side cheering for us! God doesn’t have to decide whether to support Collingwood or Carlton or the Western Bulldogs, because naturally he supports everyone. But we have to choose to hear and respond to such cheering on our behalf, and, inspired by such support, start to kick a few goals. And when the opposition tackles us, we don’t drop the ball, but have gained enough strength to shrug it off, and keep running forward.

One of those things that happen when we have God’s peace at the centre of our being, or the sense of God on the throne of our lives, is that we become far more intent on keeping peaceful relationships with the other people in our lives; we live out our peace within into our external relationships. As Paul put it in his letter to the Romans (12:18): “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone” (NLT). What would this mean in the cut and thrust of our daily lives? Probably quite a lot for each of us – but certainly it would mean holding our tongue in check at times, being willing to forgive, and helping those who have given us reason (humanly speaking) to do the opposite.

So I pray that I can gain the sort of peace in the centre of my being that will never be rocked or rattled despite the trials that come, the sort of peace within, maintained by prayer, that also makes a positive difference in the lives of those I encounter. Rev Warren Hodge (October 2010).