The Peace of a Wet Nest

I have been visiting a lady who Pastors three churches in three small towns in Iowa. Every time I visit her the phone is ringing from church members needing this or that. Her mother recently moved in with her, which is helpful because she does all she can as secretary for her daughter. But the mother is elderly and having trouble getting around, so she can only help so much. One of the churches had a member who needed a place to stay, so arrangements were made for this lady to live with my Pastor friend and help out with secretarial work and housework. But this new “helper” has some mental issues which come out in temper tantrums, a bedroom waist-high full of stuff with only a path to the bed... and last time I went to visit, the helper was sitting on the edge of her bed, stark naked, hollering that she was going to go to bed “right now!” and wouldn’t help any more that day (it was 7pm). On top of all that, my Pastor friend is completely blind! (I think she was born blind) And I had been thinking that my life was too chaotic!

Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...

No doubt all of us wish we had more peace in our lives. Whether we are just too busy, or dealing with circumstances like my blind Pastor friend, peace is more than welcome.

That study I read, on the “Fruit of the Spirit,” told the story of two painters who were both asked to paint a picture illustrating the concept of peace. One man painted a gorgeous mountain setting with a secluded, alpine lake. Solitude and restfulness were clearly portrayed in his masterpiece of art. The other man painted a rocky outcrop with a roaring waterfall bursting off the edge and crashing into the river below. You could almost hear the deafening roar of the waterfall and feel the sprays of water. And in the crook of a sapling tree that leaned out over the foaming river, almost wet with the mists, was a little bird sitting on her nest, cozy and serene.

Surely that little bird portrays the kind of peace we need today! Life isn’t going to slow down and become less chaotic. Circumstances are tough for everyone. The first painter’s mountain-top ideal may never happen in our lives; and if it does, it won’t last long enough! Peace in the midst of it all is what we need.

Where do we get such peace? Like all the other fruit, it is “of the Spirit.” Only a connection with the God who lives above the chaos of this earth, can root us securely in a place out of reach of the roaring destruction all around us.

“...These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” - Jesus (John 16:33)