Peace When Everything is Shaking

Everything is intense right now.

Pandemics, protests, politics, systemic injustice....

Leaders who care more for their own gain than the people they represent and serve are being revealed as such (though they continue to deny it of course) across the globe. 

Corruption is rampant and many leaders are taking advantage of the global disruption to oppress people with more intensity than ever before.

So much division between nations and cultures seems to be coming to the surface as we deal with this pandemic. 

The poor and vulnerable continue to be exploited and discriminated against.

Social media is flooded with anger and frustration because of all the injustice. 

Schools have been closed for months, businesses are closing at alarming rates, hundreds of thousands of people have died, and many people are living in isolation.

Everything shaking would be an apt way to describe this moment in time.

And it's intense. 

And it's tiring.

As I was worshipping the other night though I felt a sudden wave of peace washing over me. At first I resisted it ... it didn't feel right to feel peace at a time like this. Not when the world is hurting. But as I gave in to this peace I felt God reassure me:

That my priority is to see Him in the midst of this storm.

That He does not despise the peace in the storm but He is the very nature of peace in the middle of the storm. 

That when we seek Him we can encounter this peace, even when everything is shaking.

Change will come not in my own striving but in His strength; not from my own wisdom but from His wisdom.

The strength for this season is in worship and intercession and seeking Him. 

From the hidden place will spring people who love powerfully and movements and actions that change history.

He is teaching us a fearlessness that comes from fear of Him above all else.

He is teaching us to find Him and His peace in the midst of the storms.

I don't want to sleep through this unique moment in history but equally I don't want to forget God in the midst of all this noise and shaking.