The Way of His Kingdom

By Hazel Holland

 

It's easy for us to see the daily conflict that continues to escalate in the Middle East.  Each side accuses the other side of  being the bad guy... the one who started the most recent problem.  Numerous times a day we witness this rhetoric as news anchors relate the latest fallout to establishing any lasting peace in the Middle East.

Obviously the world's ways of trying to establish peace in the Middle East are not working.  That's because peace in this world does not come through violence but through sacrifice.  Peace does not come through taking sides, but through being on His side.  Peace does not come through picking up a sword, but by picking up a cross!  God's plan is not for one nation to be lifted up above another, but for all nations and all people to find their healing in the One who has already been lifted up.  

Having said that, I am reminded that it's far easier for us to recognize the daily conflict going on in the Middle East than it is to acknowledge the daily conflict present within our own lives.  We want our families to take our side.  We insist on pointing our fingers at one another as we hold on to unforgiveness and justifiable wounding.  We want those who have hurt us to pay...  We don't want to have to acknowledge our own failures or our own unloving and unforgiving attitudes.  We'd rather pick up a sword than a cross.

It's easy to see how the way of the world teaches us to take sides.  But the way of God's kingdom calls us to take the side of cross-shaped forgiveness.  Clearly the world does not have the answer that will bring peace and healing to the Middle East.  Neither does the world have the answer that will bring peace and healing to our families or our hearts.

The battles and wars that we fight in this world (whether real or imagined) only prolong the peace that we all earnestly seek.  So let's lay down our weapons, especially during this Christmas season, and seek to be reconciled to those we have hurt or offended within our own families.  Let's let the Prince of Peace bring His love and peace to our hearts as together we seek the way of His kingdom .♥