Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth.

That's what all the Christmas carols say, right? Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. We know the story of the baby boy in the manger, cozy in the stable with Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and the donkeys and the angels singing a lullaby. It certainly seems peaceful.

We look at our own world today and wonder, "Can there be peace? Is it possible for us to even have a moment of serenity?"

[As I write this blog post, I'm listening to this song and I think it goes well with this post]

I don't follow the news super closely, but I see all the headlines on Facebook and I know what's going on. Over the past year, we've heard all about terrorists, natural disasters, mass shootings, suicides, presidential debates, murders, thefts, same-sex marriage, human trafficking, abortion leaks, even #TheDress. I don't know about you, but none of those things make me feel "peaceful". At all.

There are days when I have to shut it down. I just can't take any more articles, headlines, videos, or hashtags. I get overwhelmed by everything I can choose from to be afraid of. And trust me, I know how powerful fear can be.

But really, if you think about it, that quiet nativity scene was far from peaceful. Mary and Joseph rushed into Bethlehem and find out there's nowhere to stay (like when you walk into a packed movie theater and there are only enough seats in the front row...but much worse). Now I've never been nine months pregnant, but even with modern comforts I can't imagine that traveling is comfortable. And Mary was riding a donkey. Think of it as the original Christmas Eve traffic.

Beyond the immediate circumstances, Mary and Joseph were surrounded by the pagan, harsh, immoral culture the Romans had brought along with Roman rule. Within a few years of Jesus's birth, Herod had all the boys under two years old in Bethlehem executed. Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt.

Does any of that remind you of the peace the angels sang about to the shepherds? And honestly, does it sound much better than the chaos of our time?

During those times when panic and paranoia threaten to be overwhelming, I have to sit down and have a talk with myself. I have to remind myself that God is on the throne. It may sound trite and cliche, but there is so much comfort--and yes, even peace--in knowing that. Horrible things have been happening ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. If I had been on Facebook during any of those times (for example, the Civil War, WWII, 9/11) I think I would have been absolutely terrified.

But look: we're here. For better or for worse, the world spins on. I recognize that a lot of tragedy has happened, and I know some of you have felt that tragedy within your own household. But did fear do anything to help?

God brought us through. We call them the "good old days" because it is in hindsight and we know that everything works out in the end.

But what if we could trust that God has secured the ending even when we're in the middle of the chaos? I think that that is what faith is about...and that faith gives peace.

I certainly don't hold the secrets to peace. And maybe I'm just really oblivious to everything going on around us. Do the presidential debates (both sides) scare me for the future of the country? Yes. Am I afraid that those who hate Christ will take power and persecute me? Sure. But I have zero control over what is going to happen, and I have to take a deep breath and realize that I don't have to be afraid. God is, indeed, bigger than our greatest fears.

You see, peace does not happen when everyone stops fighting each other. It's when you stop fighting God for control and let Him orchestrate His grand story. It's when you trust God to work out the end while you live out His calling on your own life.

Merry Christmas! 

What My Calculus Professor Taught Me About God

This school semester has been characterized by my struggles with calculus and my calculus professor's struggle to teach us well. I will admit that it is probably the most challenging course I've ever attempted, and I've spent most of my semester trying to stay afloat.

But as the semester comes to an end, I had a moment to look back and reflect on how I got to where I am.

Whenever he introduced a new concept, our professor would always teach us the long, hard way. Those who had been in calculus before remembered a shortcut, but he refused to teach it to us until we had mastered (and been tested on) the long way. I could never figure out what exactly we were going to do with the second derivative or definite integrals, but he was teaching so I was trying to learn.

So I agonized for hours over these tedious problems, afraid that I would never be prepared for the imminent test. I didn't think I could learn the concept in time to test on it.

But by the test review and quiz day, somehow I had a grasp on the material, enough to pass the quiz and the test. When we revisited the same concept later in a much more complex context, it was almost second nature to me. And when we learned the shortcut, I appreciated it so much more because I understood what it was doing.

I think that, to an extent, God does the same thing with us. We have no idea what is up ahead, only that there is hard stuff right in front of us. It looks incredibly difficult, and we barely have enough resources to tackle it.

But, once we finally crest the hill, we find another obstacle, even bigger than the first. In despair we complain about all the uphill work, but we push onward. When we're finally on top of that hill, we look back and realize that, if we hadn't worked hard to climb the first slope, we would have been too inexperienced to climb the second incline.

Then we recognize that God brought us through the first obstacle, which was so hard at the time but now looks easy, so that we would learn to trust Him when we reach an even bigger one.

*This is not at all to compare my calculus professor to God. I wouldn't do that.

But I want to draw an analogy: My professor, although it often didn't seem like it at the time, had a plan to guide us through Calculus I. He might give us a hint as to what was coming up, but most of the time, all we knew was that there was a test coming up and we had to be ready. And he never showed us the shortcut until we had mastered the hard way.

Same with God. He has a plan that we can't see, and He only shows us enough for us to take our next step; and sometimes not even then. He doesn't give us an easy way out because that won't grow us. But He tells us enough that we'll be prepared for the test.

The biggest difference, however (besides the fact that God is God and my professor is not) is that God walks with us through the trials. He promises us that He will not allow us to be tested more than we can handle:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10.13)

 So, not unlike my calculus professor, God has the entire "syllabus" planned out, but He's only going to take us through it one day at a time.