Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You speak of setbacks and confusion, but look at the turmoil in your own words! You are fighting a war, and in your agitation, you risk becoming an enemy to the very peace you seek. You pile request upon request, anxiety upon anxiety, and call it prayer. But where is the quiet confidence? Where is the still trust that God, who has already granted a peaceful night, holds this child in His hand? Your excessive worry is itself a kind of discord, a storm in your own soul that disturbs the household of faith.
The Peace of God is not found in a frantic listing of every ailment and every potential disturbance. It is an umpire. When the thoughts rise up, one crying for revenge against the illness, another screaming in fear of the next meal, another raging against the caregiver’s schedule, do not let anxiety or contentiousness hold the prize. Let the Peace of God step forward. Let it silence those fears with the truth that God is Peace, and He has already made peace with you through the blood of His Son. Why do you arm yourself for a battle Christ has already won? Human peace often comes from having no trouble, from perfect circumstances and avenged wrongs. Not this peace. The peace Christ gives is steadfast. It is given so that you, and your household, may be at peace with one another, which makes you stronger. But how can you impart this calm to your sleeping child when your own mind is a field of wrestling, angry thoughts?
Be still. The dove descended not bringing a branch of peace from a single olive tree, but bringing the good tidings of a common calm for the whole world, deliverance from all evils. Is the deliverance of your son a larger task than the salvation of the world? If God has begun a good work, if the seizure has ceased and the sleep has been sweet, then give thanks with a full and quiet heart. Do not immediately dive back into the trenches, commanding and rebuking every potential shadow. Such an approach is not peacemaking; it is the making of disturbance. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord. This pursuit of peace starts in your own heart. Entrust the child to his Angel, who always beholds the face of the Father, and let your requests be made known with thanksgiving, not with a torrent of fearful instructions. To be a peacemaker, and so a child of God, you must first let the Peace of God rule.
The Peace of God is not found in a frantic listing of every ailment and every potential disturbance. It is an umpire. When the thoughts rise up, one crying for revenge against the illness, another screaming in fear of the next meal, another raging against the caregiver’s schedule, do not let anxiety or contentiousness hold the prize. Let the Peace of God step forward. Let it silence those fears with the truth that God is Peace, and He has already made peace with you through the blood of His Son. Why do you arm yourself for a battle Christ has already won? Human peace often comes from having no trouble, from perfect circumstances and avenged wrongs. Not this peace. The peace Christ gives is steadfast. It is given so that you, and your household, may be at peace with one another, which makes you stronger. But how can you impart this calm to your sleeping child when your own mind is a field of wrestling, angry thoughts?
Be still. The dove descended not bringing a branch of peace from a single olive tree, but bringing the good tidings of a common calm for the whole world, deliverance from all evils. Is the deliverance of your son a larger task than the salvation of the world? If God has begun a good work, if the seizure has ceased and the sleep has been sweet, then give thanks with a full and quiet heart. Do not immediately dive back into the trenches, commanding and rebuking every potential shadow. Such an approach is not peacemaking; it is the making of disturbance. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord. This pursuit of peace starts in your own heart. Entrust the child to his Angel, who always beholds the face of the Father, and let your requests be made known with thanksgiving, not with a torrent of fearful instructions. To be a peacemaker, and so a child of God, you must first let the Peace of God rule.
