A German theologian tells the story of his preschool daughter, who loved to stand on the window seat in their mountain home and watch what was happening on the road in the valley far below them. With the windows thrown wide open—nothing between their precious child and a fatal fall from this precipice—the parents had a hard and fast rule that the little girl could only stand on the window seat and look out the window if her mother or father stood behind her holding the straps across the back of her jumper. The daughter always followed this procedure.
One summer day the loud excitement of a calliope accompanied circus wagons winding their way down the valley. The parents came from another part of the house, drawn by the noise to investigate the commotion, and there was their daughter, joyfully leaning out the window taking it all in, while reaching behind her with one arm to hold her own straps!!
How many of us find ourselves in this image—leaning over the precipices of life while holding our own straps? The peace we take for granted—pleasant circumstances, good health, a comfortable lifestyle—can evaporate in an instant.
Jesus tells his disciples in the upper room on their last evening together:
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Unfortunately, it often takes a crisis the scrambles our circumstances before we know the source of our peace—Jesus or the world. We discover whether God has ahold of us, or we’re only holding our own straps. The apostle Paul writes:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.”
The word to “guard” was a familiar one to Paul’s audience in the city of Philippi, as it signified the omnipresent Roman guards throughout their city. In like manner, one commentator writes: “God’s protective custody for those in Christ extends to the core of their beings.”
If you grew up in the Midwest as I did, you probably sometime experienced putting your nose on an icy windowpane. Outside it is far below zero, with cold icy wind thrashing the trees and creating little tornadoes of swirling snowflakes. So cold and violent outside, so safe and warm inside. You put the tip of your nose on the icy cold window and watched your breath cloud it over. Or if you were really daring, you put the tip of your tongue to that freezing glass—and discovered it might stick as if with super glue!!
Someone might wonder if a one-fourth inch piece of glass is really enough to shield you from the freezing elements. But it is. Like the windowpane, the peace of God forms a protective membrane standing guard around the deepest, most fragile part of our being.
We can stand looking out at the cold, harsh winds that blow through each of our lives at times, and still feel safe. The peace of God is on guard in our hearts and minds.
I woke up this morning wishing I could hear one of your sermons – even looked on YouTube. But here you are on FB, just in time!
Debbi, actually videos of my weekly sermons are on the website of the church I’m now serving. Here’s the website: http://www.tvpchurch.org You’ll see a link for “video sermons archive” on the homepage. They have plans to begin a youTube channel soon. 🙂