The Prerequisite of Peace

Fierce monsoon wind blew in rage. It was raining buckets. Intense lightning struck the place. Such a cold and showery night in the Philippines. Flipping through the pages of my KJV Bible (following the text guide of Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest), I stumbled across Matthew chapter 8. "So, what's up for me on this? I probably have read this chapter a hundred times already," I silently told myself. I went through the passages and passed the stories of Jesus healing man with leprosy, the centurion asking Jesus to heal his servant, Peter's mother-in -law being healed by Jesus, Jesus casting out spirits from people being brought to Him, and a scribe who would wait for the death of his parents before following Christ. Those scenes were not as striking to me compared when I first read them. But as I looked upon the chapter, the next five-versed adventure of Jesus had made a fresh impact on me. Matthew 8:23-27 reads, "And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples follow Him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, o ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him."

When my life seems to go so well as I have wanted, it is so easy to praise God and place my trust in Him. During those moments, it is convenient for me to say, "Oh, God! Truly You are sovereign and faithful." and then, sleep in peace. But when troubles arise, I oftentimes find myself struggle asking God to "wake up" when He's never been asleep in heaven. I would catch myself begging God to lift up the burdens. Billows would seemingly toss my peace away. I would tend to overthink -- worry, feel helpless and perishing. All the while I thought that when the storm has finally stopped, that's the perfect time of peace. But, oh-well, I was wrong. The wisdom from the story is God's revelation of the prerequisite of peace. I have heard too many times that peace is not the absence of problems but the presence of God. But on the story, while God Himself, who is Jesus, was in the ship, still the disciples weren't at peace. With this, I have realized, FAITH is the prerequisite of PEACE. Faith and peace should always go together. We cannot be peaceful while remaining faithless. God never promised a life without troubles (John 16:33) but He vowed to give us His peace (John 14:27) as we put our faith in Him. We cannot control how would the wind blow but we can choose to trust God as our anchor. Are you searching for peace in the midst of the storm? Find it on Jesus by having faith in Him.