“I’m all for peace, but the minute I tell them [my neighbors] so, they go to war!” Psalm 120.7
There are times now and then that no matter what you do you end up in combat. You do not want the battle, you do everything you know to avoid the fight, the focus of your efforts is in building relationship bridges, and you still end up fighting.
Work is like that a lot. People crawling over each other to be on top. People spend their time fight others with so much energy that there is scant attention left to focus on the other commitments left on their plates. The pressures and forces are on all us. Cut costs, improve employee moral and performance, and communicate up, down, and to your peers flawlessly. Add to this the understood requirement to be the perfect manager, worker, relationship builder, conflict solver while keeping a healthy balance between work, personal sanity, and family.
Work is our second battle ground. We are fighting with our inner self long before we ever get to the job. We want to be something other than what we are. We thirst to experience love and acceptance from somebody, usually everybody. We fight the internal battle for self-image. We struggle to find and maintain our sense of identity.
I am all for peace but the minute I tell myself that I am at war with myself and everyone around me!
Can we control ourselves in these battles? Do we need to fight every war? Is it possible to manage the process to win?
Wrong questions! People, relationships, and work are secondary battles. The fight is primarily within. Until we recognize this face, accept this reality, and turn to a higher source of power our focus and energy will not change.
God can change the playing field. Our struggle should be to hold on to God, not fight with each other. Our challenge is to recognize our utter dependence and fight to maintain our relationship with Him not degrade ourselves hoping to find peace.
God is peace.
