Perfect Peace

Have you ever shaken a soda pop just to see what happened? At times our wee ones are driven by this infantile desire to test the limits.

The dreary monotony of yet another bed time battle loomed before the weary mother. She was the carbonated beverage in the bottle; and her children were the hands wrapped tightly around shaking and jostling half for the fun of it and half to see how far they could push the limit.

Regretting her previous impatient reactions in similar situations she clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut tight desperately trying to regain control. Distaining the impending tears and pounding headache, she knew there had to be another way!

In a twinge of pity she scooped up the fussy toddler and set him in her lap. He writhed and wriggled. Breathing out a prayer she begged God to give her child peace. Almost immediately he ceded. She lifted her son to his bed. Two words came to her: perfect peace. The others came pleading for a story, “Tell me a story! Tell me a story!” As they repeated the demand a new idea seeped into her mind. It brought with it hope.

Could there be a connection to perfect peace? The whole verse reads, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Slowly the cap of the bottle was turned letting the pressure out as she breathed a hopeful whisper, “Storytelling!” That was it! Stories are a path to peace, an irresistible way that a mind is channeled into trusting the teller.

She began to let her imagination run. The stories would bring the peace the house needed. Could it be that this is the reason that the bible is full of stories instead of pragmatic points and formulas? Yes! God wants us to trust Him. He knows that if we trust him then we will have perfect peace. But how can he create that trust? By hearing his stories we believe if it happened before it can happen again. We have perfect peace when our mind is stayed on God. We stay our mind on him by replaying the ancient stories handed down for generations.

We connect to truth, faith, trust and peace with the all familiar line, “Once upon a time in a land far far away…”