We experienced the ‘Blizzard of the Century’ last week in Kansas City. Actually it was no big deal, because I remember snows like it when I was in 4th – 7th grades. But it was the most snow we had seen at one time since those years. The snow and low temperatures combined for peak demand and slow delivery of propane. I was greeted with a call on Friday that we were out of propane at church. We had a ‘failure to communicate’ experience with our new propane provider. Calling them twice, even speaking to the owner only confirmed our fears, there was no way to get propane to us on such short notice. They were backlogged over a week with other frantic customers. My calls to other propane providers confirmed the backlog.
A subdued (ha!) panic came upon me as I told Gary “This is a disaster! We’ll have to cancel church because the church will be too cold!” (Inwardly I was saying, how could this happen?) I remember Gary saying, “All we can do is pray!” and pray he did. However, my fleshly business man self went to work, trying to figure out a way out of this ‘disaster’. When I found out the Fellowship hall was heated with an electric furnace, I figured we could at least have church in the basement. All we need to do is cancel Sunday School, and all meet together for worship. Glory, the day is saved! So I hurriedly made a phone tree announcement about the change in the Sunday service. I was still ‘anxious’, but at least we had made the best of a bad situation. My ‘Jacob’ character had figured out what to do. (Jacob is a picture of the fleshly, business savvy Jew, trusting not in God but his own strength. I am a lot like Jacob).
Within a couple of hours of my phonetree call, I received the message that our propane supplier had juggled things and could get to us Saturday morning. That was great news, but now what would people think when they get another call saying everything was OK again. So I decided to wait until Saturday and MAKE SURE we had heat before calling. I made the call, Sunday came, and everything was OK.
Monday morning I read a devotion from a devotional book I have been reading since 1972, “Table in the Wilderness” by Watchman Nee. You would think I had learned this by now, but no, God constantly has to deal with my natural self! The verse focused upon was John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; MY PEACE I give unto you”. I was reminded that I have been given the deep undisturbed peace of God. No matter the chaos going on in this world, God always maintains His peace. He is sovereign, and His purpose is always accomplished. I was reminded of Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
By reacting to the lack of propane in my flesh, I threw the peace of God out the door! I ignored the ‘Peace Guards’ protecting my heart! God knew all along what was going on with our propane tank. Being empty wasn’t a ‘disaster’ to Him! He never lost His peace! Why did I?
Kenneth Wuest translates Philippians 4:7 this way: “the peace of God which surpasses all power of comprehension, shall mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.
When I focused on the ‘disaster’, I opened my heart to the enemies of God’s peace. I allowed the enemies of panic, worry, dread, pride, anxiety, and fear to assault my heart! God has placed His ‘Peace Guards’ as a protective garrison for my heart. His ‘Peace Guards’ are there to keep my heart from those sins which reflect a lack of trust in God! Yet with one phone call I knocked the sentries down and opened my heart up to fleshly emotions and fears that robbed me of my confidence in God!
I learned a valuable lesson! Call on the Peace Guard’s whenever we are confronted with a ‘disastrous’ situation. God never loses His cool! His ‘peace guards’ surround and garrison our heart so we don’t need to lose our cool either! Are God’s ‘Peace Guards’ stationed around your heart?
Loving the Word with the MudPreacher 