Give Me Peace

For this last New Years celebration I was in Kansas City at the International House of Prayer. Each year they have a conference, called One Thing, to bring in the new year. There are many wonderful and cool things about the One Thing conference. There were over 30,000 people in the same building, gathered because they love Jesus. There were wonderful times of praise and worship, great teaching, a very expansive book store with all kinds of resources. My favourite thing about going down to IHOPKC however is spending time in their prayer room. They have singers, musicians and intercessors in their prayer room 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The thing I love about the prayer room is the tranquil presence of God. Even though it can be crowded and noisy (and I am NOT drawn to crowds and noise) I think it must be one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. It is almost hard to believe, even hough I have been there and experienced it, but when I walk into the prayer room I feel as though I am walking through an invisible barrier into the presence of God. I don't know if everybody feels that way in there, but that is what it feels like to me.

I grew up in Mitchell, MB, a small town outside of Steinbach. I happen to like peace and calm. Living in Winnipeg, where it sometimes seems as though you can hear sirens every half-hour, does not always make sense to me. I sometimes wonder why God brought me, of all people, to Winnipeg. I don't like all the noise and busyness of being in a city. I want peace and calm. Not only that, the lives and relationships of many of the people I rub shoulders with day to day are filled with strife. Peace and calm are foreign ideas. A significant factor in all of the strife is often addiction. Many people live their lives with chemicals flowing through their blood most of the time. It is impossible to ever have contentment and peace when your body or mind is screaming for more, more, more and now, at any cost.

I think God brought me to Winnipeg's North End exactly because of the stark contrast between the desire of my heart and the context all around me. If your food is bland, add salt. If your porridge is too thick, add milk. If life is grey, add some colour. If I don't like the strife, I may as well cry out for peace, and seek to live out the beatitudes and be a maker of peace. I believe that the Prince of Peace, the creator who rested on Day 7, is able to give us rest. He will bring peace. Amen.