Devotion: Peacemaking
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
I write this on Wednesday, the day after our nation’s election. I’ve had the privilege of having pastoral conversations with both the elated and the fearful – those who are excited for the next four years and those who feel hopeless. So it goes, for the pastor of an “apolitical” congregation (exactly the kind of congregation I believe God wants us to be).
The ancient poet, who wrote the famous “time for every season poem” in Ecclesiastes, offers us some great perspective. And while the words in the poem are well-known and likely memorized, what they mean can best be summarized with a phrase that I like to use, God is already ahead of us.
Whether you are joyous or pained, excited or hurting, anticipating or fearing, my friend, know that God is already ahead of you and ahead of us all. At each stage and phase of being, we are tempted to see that certain events will either “bring God in” or “push God out” of the future. The reality is that God has this, and has always had this. In our self-absorption we think that God is contingent on us. God is not. Nothing that happens can conjure up or control God’s presence. Our God of love still is – as God always has been – loving you, and loving you completely.
As we conclude our Peacemaker series, this is one last nugget of peacemaking. Peacemaking is contingent on trusting that God will find a way through. The future requires your responsible participation, for sure. We need to be intentional, but true peacemakers understand that they are neither the object of the world’s attention, nor the Savior of the world. God is sovereign, leaning into this reality is what brings us peace, and gives us the vision for true peacemaking.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” Be blessed, dear friend.
Gracious God, help us to feel you in this season. Help us to navigate, with compassion, the joy and the pain we see around us. Guide our actions, trusting that you walk before us. And make us good human beings, for the sake of our world and yours. Amen.
Written by Pastor Greg Bouvier
Pastor Greg heard God’s call to Sheridan in 1999 and that began a journey which has become his life’s work. Having played a variety of roles as pastor of Sheridan, Pastor Greg was called as the Senior Pastor in 2011. He leads the staff and his primary focus is on the creation of culture, the overall direction of worship and partnering with our amazing team. Pastor Greg has been married to Rose for more than 30 years and together they have two servant-hearted grown children.