Finding God’s Peace in Family Chaos
The Fight Is On
Do you sense the dissonance in the air?
Dissonance: In the musical world, the definition of dissonance is a “lack of harmony among musical notes.”
This lack of harmony causes clashing musical sounds, two opposing forces colliding and making harsh music.
In the spiritual realm, there is dissonance, or spiritual forces opposing one another as well. C.S. Lewis warns us not to think too little of these spiritual forces or too much:
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail the materialist or a magician with the same delight.” — C.S. Lewis
It is one thing to be aware of the dissonance, but another thing to bring the peace of God into the place where dissonance is creating chaos. How do you do that?
For example, out of the blue, one of your children begins to exhibit oppositional behavior. They have never done this before, but now it seems you catch attitude each time you ask them to do something. What do you do?
Or you sense a “disturbance in the force” between you and your husband. What do you do?
You can do what other followers of God have done throughout history. You can stay yourself upon God, find his peace, and then act or speak from that posture of peace.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
As followers of Jesus, we find ourselves in an epic battle. Knowing his time is short, the devil is pulling out all the stops. Yet, our focus must be on what the kingdom of God is doing.
In the kingdom of God, we move from the victory of Jesus’ resurrection. There is no competition between the forces of hell and God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom has already won this epic battle. We get to see this happen as we exercise our faith.
So, I encourage you to fight the good fight. Opposition is an opportunity to see God move. The only element you need is faith. This faith is born in your relationship with Jesus as you make space for him. Therefore, be diligent to be a student of God’s Word, pray, spend time with other followers of Jesus, and be patient in suffering.
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (NLT)