When Peace Like a River Attendeth my Way

The river was smooth, barely a ripple marring the glassy surface. The sun was still not too high in the sky so the shade from the trees on the bank kept a blanket of coolness over me as I kayaked along the peaceful shore. It was completely quiet and still. Total soothing peace. In fact, I was thinking of the beautiful words of a classic hymn, "When peace like a river attendeth my way..."

CRASH! SPLASH! WHOOSH!

Out of nowhere, there was a sudden eruption of some humongous form just inches from my boat. It was so unexpected and lightning fast that I did not catch sight of the monster, just the aftermath of it's catapult out of the water. I cried out, "What was that!!!???" and clutched my oars as my boat rocked on the wake of the monster. Surely no mere fish could have made that ginormous splash?

I glanced around nervously, and paddled quickly to get out of the vicinity. The river resumed its mirror sheen. Then just as my heart was settling out of arrhythmia, again there was a massive splash and something boiled from the depths and then disappeared again before I could see it. And again, it had been inches from my boat.

Seriously freaked out now, I paddled away from shore. Whatever monstrous creature it was, it seemed to like the shade too. And it did not want to share.

I never did see if it was a fish or a Leviathan...or maybe a displaced Loch Ness monster. I hurried away. So much for "peace like a river."

Funny. The next line of the classic hymn is: "When sorrows like sea billows roll..."
Well if ever there was a sea billow, this was a sea billow!

The hymn goes on: "Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well, with my soul."

The hymn captures an important point. Peace is great, and we all love those placid quiet moments, but in a flash, peace can be destroyed and we are in the midst of turmoil. If you are like me, when your boat is violently rocked by unseen or even seen struggles within and about, your fear increases in direct inverse proportion to your faith. The less I trust in God, the more I am terrified by the monstrous onslaughts of life. The more I am immersed in prayer and Bible study, the more I trust that I and my loved ones are safe in the arms of the God who loves me. Additionally, the more I trust God, the more I understand that safety in this world is ultimately of little matter. God has my soul firmly in His sights, and no monster of the depths can wrench it from Him.

If we, like the psalmist, can grasp that peace or trouble cannot determine the state of our soul, we will know contentment in God.

Still, I skedaddled out of there as fast as I could.
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Romans 16:20 

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Romans 15:13 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 8:6 

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 5:1 

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.