Power and Peace

This story is about power and peace. People want power and we want peace. These are universal desires for Americans as well as those in third world countries. Just look at the popularity of Harry Potter and Transformers. We only have to turn on the news to see some of what's been going on in the Middle East for centuries, and then there's health care and the economy.

We all felt pretty powerless as children, I think. Children all over the world look up in the night sky at the moon and stars and wonder. We watch and learn and begin to think that someday, when we reach our goals, we will finally have power and peace. We count on our education, a corner on the market, legal or otherwise, a spouse, our singleness so we don't have to fight like our parents did, plenty of money, or just a roof over our heads, a job or the freedom to pursue our art. The power we want, we believe will give us control, and then something happens...or doesn't...that makes us realize that we have very little. We're stopped dead in our tracks, sometimes literally paralyzed.

Jesus said and taught us to pray, that power is God's; but before He left Earth, He promised those who had given their whole lives, heart, soul, mind and strength to Him that we would receive power - His power to do what He wants. Who wouldn't want that?! The power of the Most High God, the Creator of the Universe, the Father of Lights?! Through Ezra, He tells us that "the hand of our God is upon all them that seek Him, for good". Through Paul He says, "...we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." Every detail. Every loss, every gain, every emotion...everything.

In one of her videos about the life of Queen Esther, my friend Laurie Zieber asks, "What if you KNEW?" www.lauriezieber.com. He says that we can know. So love Him and look for Him. He tells us, again through Paul, "Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks". When we do, He promises that "God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."