¶ Welcome to Starting Right
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day . So grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day right .
It seems that one of the very few things that people can agree on is that we all like and would want peace , but the problem is most people can't agree on how we should go about getting peace , or even what peace really is , and so we wind up where we are right now , where the news is dominated by anger and fights and war and disease and political strife
and people not getting along , and it just goes on and on and on , and it gets so very , very tiresome . So let me ask you this how would you define peace For you ? What does that mean ? What does it mean for your life and for your family and for your job If you could live in peace ? What would that mean for you ?
Peace is a word that , when defined , has some strong similarities in definition , depending on who you talk to , but it also has different flavors . It's described in different ways by different people . I took some time on the net just looking up how people define peace , and here's a couple of them .
Peace is having no fear of what the others will think of the way you act . How people define peace , and here's a couple of them . Peace is having no fear of what the others will think of the way you act , the way you behave .
Peace is respect Respect of other people around you , respect of your own right to live free of fear and judgment , respect of the fact people can be different than you and they should be respectful of you . Here's another one Peace is when everything is harmoniously , living in harmony and freedom . It is a calm state of security and calmness .
And here's one more when peace or tranquility exists , it involves quietude and an absence of motion or disturbance . Relationships between individuals of similar character are also described as peaceful when regarded as respectful , honorable and goodwill . Silence , peacefulness and serenity are all qualities of peace . Here's a definition from the Wiktionary on peace .
It's a sense of contentment . There are no fights or no wars occurring . Basically , peace can exist either as a quiet and non-disturbing state , such as being in a small pond without any ripples , or as a harmonious and quiet state . I find that all those definitions are very much lacking . There's more to peace than any of those things .
I came across a short story that defines peace in a bit of a different way . There was once a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace . Many artists tried . The king looked at all of the pictures , but there were only two that he really liked and he had to choose between them . One picture was of a calm lake .
The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it . Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds . All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace . The other picture had mountains too , but these were rugged and bare . Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightning played .
Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall . This did not look peaceful at all , but when the king looked closely he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock . In the bush , a mother bird had built her nest there , in the midst of the rush of angry water . Sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace .
The king chose the second picture to win the prize . Do you know why the king chose the second picture to win the prize . Do you know why ? Because , explained the king . Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise , trouble or hard work . Peace means to be in the midst of all of those things and still be calm in your heart .
That is the real meaning of peace . This is what Jesus meant in John 16.33 , where he said I have told you all these things that you may have peace in me here on earth . You will have many trials and sorrows , but take heart because I have overcome the world .
Living in the peace that God has for us does not mean that everything will be calm , will be beautiful and fine and relaxing all around us , but it does mean that , as there is chaos around us as there always will be God can give us peace and calmness and the ability to relax in the midst of it . And that's what real peace is .
It's being able to handle the stresses and situations that challenge us every day , the places and people that are flowing with negativity . To be in that place of peace with Christ means that we are resting completely in him in the midst of it all . Ask God for peace in the midst of your chaos and he will give it to you and he will bless you .
Have a great day , my friends . We will talk again tomorrow . Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday , right here on , starting Right with Danny Mac .