Finding Peace

I've told this story before of arriving on a midnight flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I got off the plane and waited hours to get through Immigration (it was Ramadan) only to find out that after clearing immigration and customs, my pre-arranged transportation was not there. After walking through the airport trying to see if there were transportation options, I started to attract a crowd of "helpful" people trying to take me to places I didn't want to go. As a westerner in Saudi Arabia, and being 6'5", I was attracting more attention than I wanted. All I wanted was a moment of peace.

We are living in times of intense anxiety and stress. We as humans tend to feed on this feeling of anxiety. We all struggle with anxiety and worry and some give up thinking that we are natural born worriers. Anxiety, at its simplest form, causes churn. Anxiety, at its most severe form is full scale panic. This is not a way to live and not what God intended.

If you are feeling anxious with everything that is happening today, stop, take a moment and pause and reflect on these verses from Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

It is easy in the era we are living in with COVID-19 to lose sight of the peace that God has promised us.

How did it end with me in the airport in Riyadh? Well as any good Christian man would do in the Middle East, I broke free from the crowd and prayed to Jesus. Within 30 seconds of ending my prayer, I saw 3 westerners walking out from immigration. They were the pilots from the flight I was on, had space for me in their transportation and were going to the exact same hotel as I was!

If you are anxious, pray. If you are worried, pray. If you need comfort, pray. God is with you.

If you want to dig deeper, take a look at Psalm 55:22, Matthew 11:28, and 1 Peter 5:7