I wonder if animals ever think about what it would be like to be a person. See, people spend a considerable amount of time wondering what it would be like to be a certain animal. I’ll bet animals make fun of each other. Lions probably make the most fun other animals because they are the coolest. Lions are probably always picking on chickens and wallabies and other animals calling them all kinds of names. Then the wallaby could pretty easily make fun of a rat because nobody likes rats. You might start feeling bad for the rats because they are the bottom, but don’t worry because they can still make fun of the millions of insects. Then the insects pick on the amoebas and amoebas don’t care because they aren’t able to think very well.
That being said I would want to be a lion. Lions are the coolest animal and especially being a male lion would be awesome. First of all they have a giant beard, and I am a big fan of beards. See tigers would be awesome too, but no beard. A tiger would feel pretty self conscious if they were hanging out with a lion. The tiger is all like “Check out these stripes,” then the lion says, “Cool, for a little jungle kitten. Maybe you should trying growing a beard like a king of the jungle.”Lions can pretty much take down anything they want, but there is one thing that really sets them a notch above the rest in my book and that is the fact they are ridiculously lazy. They just sit around and tell the lionesses to go out and get them some food. Sure it’s not just boring because if a wild boar or hyena tries to pick on a junior lion/lioness you still get some action but there is not a whole lot of obligations on the day to day.
The problem with my dream of being a lion is that it just doesn’t line up with how I deal with things. If I am honest with what animal I act like, I am pretty sure I would be a turtle. When I face problems or life throws some adversity in my face I just want to go into my little shell and make it all go away. I have gotten much better with actually dealing with conflict as I have gotten older because the problem is that when you hide in a shell the conflict is still lurking outside.
I know there are some drama queens that might get offended by this, but I think most people do not like conflict. We tend to avoid it and want it to disappear when it does show up. This is why I find it interesting when Jesus promises us peace He say, “My peace I give you, I do not give as the world gives” (John 14:27). The peace that is always at the forefront of my mind is the one accompanied by lush green meadows filled only with bunnies and butterflies. The peace we want and usually think of is one that removes our conflicts. We want God to take those problems lurking outside our turtle shells and make them disappear.
The problem is that the peace that removes our conflicts is not the one we see play out in the life of Jesus or the lives of the apostles. Jesus himself was tempted to succumb to the peace of the world on the night of His death. Jesus knew that He was going to be betrayed, all His friends would desert Him and He would be murdered by people He loved since before their existence. In that moment of turmoil Jesus Christ pleads with God to “take this cup”; remove this conflict and give me the world’s peace. Jesus then goes on to pray “Not as I will, but as You will” (Matt 26:39) and in this moment He begins to model the peace of God. This peace is not one that removes our conflicts, but rather works in the midst of them; it transcends them.
We live in a broken world that is filled with conflict. Jesus promises that we will face hardships because of Him. We cannot avoid it and God will not remove it, but Jesus has promised us His peace. This is the peace that Paul speaks of when he says “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). The life of a Christian is one that is full of conflict and God never promises to remove it, but the grace of God is that He has given us a peace that works in the midst of the conflict. He gives us the strength to come out of our shells and walk through the turmoil with a supernatural peace that world cannot understand.
The important question in time of quiet becomes, where is my conflict? And in times of conflict, where is my peace?
