Rejecting an Inferior Peace

A couple of weeks back, I had what some might call a bad week, or two.

I had been sick over New Years eve and New Years day - I had asked Ripplemaker and Daisy to pray for me. My illness had gone away, but I was still moving kind of slow.

Then, my Wi-Fi system at home just quit working. It took me a day or two to realize it wasn't my cable modem, or my laptop, or my ISP, but my wireless router. So, I went to Wal-Mart to get another.

My computer's power supply broke. So, I temporarily fixed my power supply with wire cutters and duct tape, and ordered a new one from eBay. I then opened my Outlook email client and it refused to open my email. So, used my web based email, to discover that eBay had taken exception to some one of my more aggressive marketing campaigns and canceled my eBay partner account.

So, I doubled checked their terms of service, and checked what I actually did. (I own a domain name that is a misspelling of a popular web site. The popular web site does not allow eBay's partners.) What I did was not against the rules. So, I wrote them an email explaining what actually happened. (I had been making about $100 a month or so on this particular site.)

It had been a tough week. So, I decided to just relax and watch a little Television. I turned on the TV, went to the kitchen to get drink and a snack and when I came back, the picture tube had quit working (It was a very high quality TV when I got it 20 years ago.)

So, a couple of days later I went to get a new TV.

Then, my account on another web site I'm a member of just vanished. Just gone.

So, I began to ask Why? Why all at once? There was no technical reason for my Wi-Fi to fail. My power supply had been working fine, why had it chosen that moment to break? Why had the TV gone out right when I really needed to relax and just be distracted? Why had eBay chosen just that moment to misconstrue my marketing techniques and cancel my account?

Just before all of this happened Daisy sent me a very nice message reminding me just how much God loved me.

My good friend Sandra wrote me a very nice email letting me know she had missed seeing my comments on Hub Pages.

Ripplemaker had recenlty been writing hubs about the power of gratitude. Not just one (Say Yes With a Grateful Heart), but two (Dear God Thank You)!

So, I went to my special God-Spot and I curled up and I asked God, "Why?" And just a snippet of scripture came into my brain. "Give Thanks in All Things" So, I sent out the following email to my close friends and family:

In the past week ...

• I have replaced my computer's power supply
• I have replaced my wi-fi router.
• My outlook client has stopped opening email.
• My ebay partner network account which was generating about $100 per month profit has been canceled - wrongfully.
• My TV has stopped working.

God is good all the time! Give Him thanks in all things ...

• God thank you for the new computer power supply.
• God thank you for the new Wi-Fi router.
• God thank you that I have other access to email besides outlook.
• God thank you that outlook is repairable.
• God thank you for the money I earned on the ebay partner account and thank you that they are looking into restoring it.
• God thank you for the opportunity to get a new TV.

God help me embrace the thankful attitude. Thank you for my friends who love You and who love me.

Still, the "Why" was bugging me. Before I begin the next part let me say that generally "understanding" is a "good thing" Proverbs 2 is all about the benefits of "understanding".

But, really, in cases like this, when we ask "why" we are really asking for peace. Yet a peace that requires understanding is an inferior peace. How do I know this? Consider Philippians 4:4-9 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

What's he saying?

Be gentle, especially in public. And relax. Talk to God. Tell Him what you want.Be thankful in ALL circumstances.

And then ... and then ... the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jesus Himself, the very Prince of Peace will actively stand guard over my heart and mind.

And He did. He asked me to reject the inferior peace that demanded explanations, and to trust Him. And He replaced it with a superior peace that surpassed all understanding. It replaced the very need for understanding.

Why did all these things happen all at once? I know there's a reason. And I know I'll get the answers eventually. How? Well, Jesus said in John 15:15: No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

You see, I trust my King enough to obey Him and just be thankful, for now. And I trust my Friend to tell me when He knows I'm ready.

And He is worth trusting. I don't know why Ebay canceled my account when they did. But they did respond to my email, and they re-instated it. Maybe "Why" isn't that important?

Oh, about the money that I spent on my new Wi-Fi, TV, power supply. I got a call from an old-client. He had a friend who wanted to buy a piece of custom software I'd written. Just out of the blue. I can't forget to be thankful for the unexpected opporutunity to earn a little extra money to replace the money I had to unexpectedly spend.

And I certainly can't forget to be grateful to my friends here at home who listened to me complain. Or my parents. And I am grateful for my Hub Pages friends. Sandy, Daisy and Ripplemaker and AEvans who didn't even know how much they were impacting me when they did with their hubs and comments and emails.

Mostly, though, I am grateful for the Superior Peace delivered to my soul by the Prince of Peace.

You're right Little Sister, there's a lot of power in a grateful heart!