Dave Ramer and I were talking about having a sound mind and he said, “This is one thing I always tell my daughter — live above the fray. Don’t enter in to the emotional drama of the day.” It comes down to being secure in the love of God. Walking in a place of peace — where no matter what people or say or do to me, I don’t shift out of the place of peace — is security and confidence in who I am in Him.
The Lord allows me to go through various crucibles or trials. These are where I am purified and get refined. It’s in these trials that He calls attention to where I am going to be sustained, and whether His table is the one at which I choose to feast. There’s a line by Don Potter in the song, Get Closer, that says, “We’ve been eating the junk food of distraction and it doesn’t satisfy… we need the word deep down in our hearts.” God wants me to have a full sustenance experience — my full joy — at that banqueting table that He is preparing for me, even in the midst of my trials!
Sometimes I think, “My gosh, if my friend, child, or partner would just get fixed or healed, then I would finally be peaceful.” But the truth is that God’s plan is, no matter what crucible or furnace I am in, I can still be peaceful even if no one else changes at all. This is the freedom of the gospel and the fullest empowerment I will experience. If I change MY heart and submit myself to God and find that place of peace, then an amazing thing will happen. Those around will also begin to change because I have changed the parameters. Literally, one by one, we can shift our environments by our actions and our life-words! No longer am I blaming someone else, or playing a victim role, but I am choosing to walk in peace. No one is responsible for me except me. Therefore, no one can steal my peace. Like Dave said, “His banner over me is love. So much of our culture focuses on trying to change others or resisting others. But the truth is that it is so freeing when you stop living that way. God’s ideal way to do this is that I discover how much He loves me and I become so confident in my identity that nothing causes me to shift out of the place of peace.” And then you know what? Other people’s bad moods won’t affect me! People’s drama won’t suck me in and pull me down. Even when people praise me, it won’t cause me to become prideful. When people reject me, it won’t cause me to question my worth. Dave said, “God will use those painful and personal rejections for His good. He is healing and renewing me so that I will choose this reality!” This is how God is calling each of us to walk out life!
Living this way is not emotional independence or arrogant confidence. I can not do this on my own; rather it is a daily process of submission to God. This transformation happens when I choose what I want in God. Essentially, I go as far as I am willing to go in Him. (Remember, you can’t push a rope!) If I am satisfied to stay on the surface, then that is where I will remain. God is so deep and wide and endless in all directions, so the reality is that I can go as deep as I want and still never discover all there is to know about Him! He is eternal and the wells of His love, holiness, and truth are so deep. Yet He offers me this incredible table at which I can draw strength and renewal. And the deeper I go in Him, the more I recognize that it is He that is my full sustenance, and that the pursuits of the world are hollow and without nutrition — the junk food of distraction.
In all of this, I can not make peace with lukewarmness or stay in any sort of apathy. I must choose to stand against lethargy and be vigilant to stay on the narrow path. The narrow way is the path of peace, and the way of righteousness. Living above the fray is how I will stay constant and steady in Christ.