Ann Spangler - Finding the Peace God Promises

ZONDERVAN

Finding the Peace God Promises

Copyright 2011, 2014 by Ann Spangler

Previously published as The Peace God Promises

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition August 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-34057-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Spangler, Ann.

The the peace God promises: closing the gap between what you experience and what you long for / Ann Spangler.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p . ).

ISBN 978-0-310-26715-7 (jacketed hardcover)

1. Peace Religious aspects Christianity. I. Title.

241'.4 dc22

2011010953

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked GW are taken from the Gods Word Translation. Copyright 1995 by Gods Word to the Nations. Published by Green Key Books. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked LB are taken from The Living Bible. Copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois. All rights reserved.

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Cover design: Curt Diepenhorst

Cover photo: Hofhauser / iStockphoto

Interior design: Katherine Lloyd, The DESK

First Printing July 2014

For Sandy Vander Zicht, with gratitude

CONTENTS

F ew books if any come into being simply because an author wills them to. This book would not have been possible without the help of many others. Thanks to Dudley Delffs, former trade book publisher at Zondervan, for his support for this book and for his suggestions regarding the shape it might take. Executive editor and associate publisher Sandy Vander Zicht has been both my friend and my editor throughout most of my writing life. Her prayers, insights, and encouragement have made all the difference. I am grateful for her sharp editorial eye and her unstinting efforts to help make this a better book. Thanks also to Tom Dean, senior director of marketing for trade books at Zondervan, and his team for their efforts to reach the broadest possible audience. Curt Diepenhorst did a wonderful job designing the cover. I also want to express my gratitude to Linda Kenney for acting as my agent for this book. I have greatly appreciated her encouragement, counsel, and support through many years.

Several editors at Zondervan pointed out helpful resources for exploring the peace that comes from belonging to a vital community. So thanks to Katya Covrett, Bob Hudson, Ryan Pazdur, Sandy Vander Zicht, and Verlyn Verbrugge for help with this topic. A special thanks to Verlyn for his editorial help on the first edition and the revised edition of this book. Im grateful also to , of her brave quest to carve out a day of rest for herself and her family. The Reverend Jack Roeda first mentioned the concept of the non-anxious presence and suggested it as a line of enquiry for the book.

Lois Tverberg, my mentor regarding the Jewish roots from which Christianity has grown, graciously agreed to review a draft of .

Mark Buchanan is both a client and a friend, and he is also one of my favorite authors. So it is no coincidence that his influence is evident throughout the book. In addition, I want to particularly acknowledge the work of Miroslav Volf. His book The End of Memory greatly influenced my understanding of the difficult topic of how memories of wrongs suffered can be dealt with in redemptive ways.

As always, my assistant, Barbara Adams, has provided invaluable help in tracking down quotes, obtaining necessary permissions, and making corrections to various drafts of the text. Her patient and cheerful support is a consistent blessing, which I do not take for granted. I am also indebted to Linda Bieze, Leslie Dennis, Joan Huyser-Honig, and Patti Swets for their prayers on behalf of the writing of this book. Week after week the persistent prayers of these women, who are like sisters to me, buoyed me and kept me moving forward.

Lastly, I am grateful to Lori Vanden Bosch for her skillful, sensitive work on the revised edition of the book. She has the gift of never letting a multitude of trees obscure the forest. That was crucial in reorganizing the manuscript.

Any deficiencies in the book, of course, can only be credited to my account. Whatever these may be, I hope that on balance this will be a book that will draw many people to a life of greater peace.

I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.

Job 3:26

S everal years ago, I began thinking about how I would celebrate a milestone birthday when it was yet a ways off. As the mother of two young children, I longed for a little peace, for time to get away from the incessant demands that children inevitably make. I wanted to do what I wanted to all day long for an entire week with no one tugging at me, no one needing me, and no one making any demands.

A full two years before that birthday, I decided I would celebrate on some island paradise. Perhaps the Cayman Islands. Just thinking about it made me feel more relaxed, anticipating the warm sand caressing every step, the blue-green water stretching out to the horizon. One year out, I thought it might be more practical to plan a trip to Florida. There are lots of gorgeous beaches in Florida. Six months in advance of my significant birthday, I set my heart on a weekend in Chicago. Then, a week before the big day, I thought, If only I could get out to the mall!

IF ONLY!

For most of us, the word peace has a certain wistfulness to it, an if only quality.

If only I could go on a vacation.

If only I could get a better job.

If only I had married someone who was easier to get along with.

If only my kids would listen.

If only I could retire.

This sense of wistfulness arises because we can think of countless things that prevent us from experiencing the peace we desire.

Each of us can come up with our own list of if onlys of the situations or the people we would like to change so that our lives wouldnt feel so rushed and anxious and stressful. Such lists, of course, imply that peace is situational. We will experience peace once our troublesome circumstances are resolved, once that difficult person moves on, once we find a new job. Circumstances do, of course, affect our sense of happiness. But what happens when our circumstances remain frustratingly the same, as they so often do? Can we still find the peace God promises? Or are we the grand exception, the one person to whom his promises do not apply?