Peace In The Storm — Aneel Aranha
Hello and welcome to The Hope Podcast. I’m Aneel Aranha. Today, we will talk about how peace is not the absence of storms; it is being calm in the storm.
We live in tumultuous times. The world is grappling with numerous challenges: geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainties, and the ongoing effects of climate change. The threat of conflict looms in various regions, while many countries face inflation, supply chain disruptions, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Natural disasters, such as wildfires, floods, and hurricanes, are devasting communities across the globe. We don’t know when the next crisis will strike.
This is when we need to turn to Jesus, who says in words we have heard so often: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. [So] do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14:27). “But,” you ask, “where is the peace he promises? Things are only going from bad to worse!” Well, this is what we need to understand.
We believe peace is obtained when strife is eliminated and storms are stilled. But that is the world’s definition of peace, and it can never give us that because the world is never at peace. At best, it offers occasional truces that don’t last for more than a few weeks, if even that. On the other hand, the peace that Jesus provides can be obtained even in the middle of strife and storms because he is with us. The trick is remembering to focus on him.
A few years ago, I was on a mission in the Caribbean. When sailing from one island to the next, we were hit by bad weather. Most of the passengers were by the side of the boat, heaving their lunches overboard. I might have joined them had I not discovered an antidote! There was a massive rock in the distance, and I realized that if I kept my eyes fixed on it, I didn’t feel quite so nauseous with all the rocking and rolling.
Life is like riding a boat. Sometimes, it is smooth sailing; often, it is not. We can get pretty sick when it starts to spin us around. However, if we can keep our eyes fixed on another rock—the Rock of Salvation—we can get through the storms in relative calm. And this “Rock” is, of course, Jesus, not Dwayne Johnson.
We had a demonstration of this truth when Peter walked on water in the middle of a storm. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he was fine. “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30).
Moral of the story: Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and you will walk through storms and only get a little wet! Let me know how this works the next time you hit a storm!
God bless you.