A Depiction Of Peace

I watched the bird fly above my daughter and I as we walked.
We had planned a shopping day and a lunch date.
It was a day at the outlets, looking for bargains.
It was a day of enjoying our time together and coming home with a few things.

As my daughter was ready to go into the store, I stopped.
I watched the bird perch on a small ledge in the ceiling.
There was a tiny gap between the ceiling and the wall just big enough for the small bird.
As I glanced up, I saw small pieces of twigs sticking out.

I was mesmerized trying to figure out how the bird could ever fit in the tiny space.
How could the bird have carried twigs to make a nest so expertly in the small gap?
I had to see if the bird would fly away and go somewhere else.
In the blink of an eye, the bird disappeared.

The bird made a nest in a place where no one would ever disturb it.
If it weren’t for the fact that the bird flew over our heads, we would never have known.
A nest in a gap.
A nest in an out of the way place.

I wanted to stay and watch but we had things to do.
I am sure that the sound of chirping could be heard at various times of day.
I am sure the bird will bring food to feed the hungry baby birds.
All of this was going on over our heads.

I remember an informal study that was done on the concept of peace.
Pictures were shown depicting various scenes.
You were to choose the one picture that most closely demonstrated peace.
One stood out as the obvious answer.

It was a picture of a meadow with the breeze blowing through the grass.
It was calm and serene with butterflies fluttering in the background.
That was the picture of choice.
That was the one that most clearly depicted peace.

Everyone who chose that picture, including me, was wrong.
I was confused.
There were no other pictures that captured the essence of peace.
But there was one and once it was explained I have never forgotten it.

It was a picture of a bird sitting on a nest.
The nest was on a branch that was dipping dangerously close to water.
The water was not still as one would see in a small pond or lake.
This water was rapidly moving over rocks that jutted out of every available space.

Yet even over this rapidly moving, tumultuous water, the bird sat calmly on the nest.
Everything that was going on around the bird was simply on the periphery.
The bird had a singular focus and that was sitting on the nest.
Nothing else seemed to matter.

It was explained that this was the picture that clearly demonstrated peace.
Peace in the midst of a storm.
Peace in the midst of the chaos that is happening all around you.
Peace was found in a singular focus despite the distractions all around you.

I wanted the answer to be the picture of the meadow.
However, when I thought about it later, that picture was not realistic.
How many of us can experience a meadow day, every day?
Many of us feel like we are perched on a branch that is dangerously close to the rapids.

We can relate to the tumult.
We find it hard to relate to the peace.
We do not have a singular focus.
We are distracted and worn thin by the demands that are put upon us.

In fact, we find it difficult to sit and be still.
We are constantly moving, making no headway but moving all the same.
We are more like the rapids that churned beneath the bird in the picture.
We move and foam and crash against the rocks, getting nowhere.

Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4,5)

Jesus was on that Tree.
Jesus endured the churning and crashing against the rocks.
Jesus endured the suffering in our place.
Jesus suffered the tumult while we enjoy the peace.

Not just any peace.
We enjoy His peace; the peace that He secured for us by His suffering.
The peace that is ours when we come to Him in faith.
When we come to Jesus and acknowledge that He took our place on that Tree.

Jesus is our singular focus.
Everything else is on the periphery.
Everything else demands and cajoles and churns around us.
But we can have His peace when we accept His substitutionary suffering in faith.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace that passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

The Lord is near.
Jesus is the singular focus of our peace.
The rapids may churn; we may get slammed against the rocks.
But the Lord is near.

He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge. (Psalm 91:4)

It is under His wings that we sit.
He covers us.
The tumult is all around us but we are at peace.
All is well.

The Lord is near.