Like a River
I recently saw a social media post that asked people to: “Post a picture of a time where you felt truly happy.” As I scrolled through the posts, I saw no pictures of families running through an airport or of cars full of people trapped on the I-70 weekend parking lot. There were no images of parents cooking dinner while impatient toddlers tugged at their shirt or of multi-tasking office workers.
The pictures posted were all of people smiling and laughing, some dressed in their best, and some in their pjs. Others were posed in front of the Magic Kingdom castle.
People get to choose their happy, and as it seems, there is a wide variety.
I began scrolling through my own photos, only to realize that 2024 was pretty smooth for my family and me. No big moves, no career changes, no pregnancies or births, just a year of being. Apart from an inconvenient injury, the year was peaceful. Until December, when I began to feel rushed and anxious.
Why did I feel like this? I truly just wanted to sit at Jesus’s feet. I wanted to walk with the One who isn’t worried about a thing. And that’s when it hit me: I wasn’t actually willing to sit. I wasn’t willing to slow down.
At the end of a particularly long day, while I was sweeping my kitchen, the song “I’ve Got Peace Like a River” came to mind. This got me wondering: What does my “river” look like? Honestly, it felt more like whitewater rafting in the Colorado, without a guide, than calmly tubing down the Poudre.
In life we can’t avoid the rapids. We can’t calm the river or decide that we just want to hop out of the boat. We’re going to have days where we feel like we’re completely out of control. However, if you’ve done your research, hired the right guide, and put on the proper gear, whitewater rivers can be exhilarating.
I truly believe that we can find peace in chaos, but we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. I realized, in all my busyness, I wasn’t spending nearly as much time in the word. I wasn’t speaking life over my circumstances. John 14:27 Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Jesus has given us the peace we need to conquer the rapids.
The busyness, the planning, the organizing, the perfecting will always be there, but how we navigate these obstacles is what ultimately matters. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Be sure to make God your guide daily. This will make those rough waters feel more like a ride than a storm.