Tantalizing Tranquility
Theme of the Week: Peace Under Pressure
Andy Stanley
Friday, October 21, 2005
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Key Bible Verse: They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them (Psalm 112:7). Bonus Reading: Psalm 46:1-11
A friend asked me to have lunch with him and a fellow he'd been sharing Christ with for nine years. I'm thinking, after nine years Gill (the unbeliever) ought to be ready to tell this guy to shove off. So I asked him what it was that kept him in this prolonged dialogue. He laughed. "That's simple," he said. "Jimmy's got something I want. He doesn't worry."
Do you know why peace shines so brightly in this world? Because everybody you meet entered adulthood with a picture of what they hoped for. Now, years into the pursuit, they've accumulated lots of the stuff they set out for. But they aren't happy and don't know what to do about it. When they finally meet someone who has peace, they take note. It highlights their emotional emptiness. And it confronts them with the fact that peace is achievable.
What if my peace isn't merely for my benefit? What if God wants to use it to cause those I come into contact with to pause and wonder? What if the purpose of dark circumstances is to give my peace a chance to attract more attention than in the wrinkle-free days when everything goes right? What if God wants to use it to make my faith authentic for someone?
—Andy Stanley in Visioneering
My Response: Is there a dark circumstance that I should by faith thank God for?
Thought to Apply: First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.—THOMAS À KEMPIS (Christian writer)
Adapted from Visioneering (Multnomah, 1999) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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