A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16:21, 33

As I write this, the north wind is howling, freezing rain is blowing, and the crows are dancing on the blustery currents. Who would believe that only a day ago the children were running under the warming sun and enjoying the beauty of the same changeable world? It is so easy to snuggle down into this world and find comfort in its delights, but without fail those delights eventually evaporate before the relentless winds of change. Fellow traveler, are you looking for peace where there is none? There is no certainty in the seeming bedrock of family unity, There is no lasting calm in the deceptive fortunes of ambition. There is no security in the simple routines to which you have grown accustomed. In the world you will have tribulation. Does that dishearten you? I never meant to discourage you, but as long as you look to life’s comforts for peace, you stand on shifting sand. Look to Christ! He stands in the midst of the splashing sea and cries out, “Be of good cheer! I have overcome the very world in which you have found both security and trouble.”

Yesterday our beautiful Julia came into the world a healthy and hungry baby. My lovely wife, your editor, thus ended nine months of physical misery. It was often difficult for me to watch her carry this burden with a body that had been injured years before in a car accident, but it was also wonderful to see God’s grace pouring through her weakness. God held back the wind and rain so that my beautiful girl and godly wife could have a moment to themselves in the sunshine. But now Julia knows that the same world that warmed her through the glass will chill her to the bone. She doesn’t turn to the world, though – she knows better than that. Oh that we would learn the same lesson: “in Him” we have peace.

Written by Colin Richards. This article was published in the Winter 2007 edition of The Beautiful Spirit magazine.
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