It had been a busy day in the Hunt house. We had work, school and sports. The four of us were getting in the door for the first time since leaving before 8 a.m. As we all did the ceremonial unloading of backpacks, purses (well just mine) and work bags, Christian turned on the television to relax for a bit. As Full House hit the screen, Christian realized it was more than half over and said, “Ahh, I missed the conflict!” I stopped in my tracks and turned to ask him what he meant and he began to explain what he had said. “Mom, all stories have different elements. They have characters, a setting, a conflict and a resolution. The conflict is just part of the story.”
Wow! I let his words soak in my head for a minute. The conflict is just PART of the story. Christian sat down to relax and had no idea how profound his statement had been. If you are anything like me, your perspective of conflict is not so nonchalant. So many times in life, I anticipate conflict and cannot see past that piece of my story. I am sad to say, sometimes the possible conflict that has caused my heart to race and my palms to sweat, doesn’t even come to fruition. I love this lesson from my 9 year old. The conflict in our life should not overshadow the people and the amazing way God works all things, even conflict for our good.
After spending some time thinking about this, I realized this is more Biblical than we know. Jesus didn’t spend His life concentrated on the ‘conflict’ and He even knew it was coming. He prepared, He studied and He loved. Not only was Jesus aware that His message would cause conflict with the pharisees and the religious of His day, He knew the way He would die would be the ultimate conflict. Jesus put more energy into loving people than He did into worrying about the ensuing conflict. He focused on the needs of the people He encountered and used each moment to touch others instead of stressing about the possibility of conflict. When He entered a town filled with hurting people, Jesus did not back away in fear that authorities may or may not confront Him. He lead a life of love and the Bible says in 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. “ Love is the most amazing verb, but verbs require a noun. People are those nouns. Jesus loved people. His love for people cast out all fear.
The awesomeness of Christianity is that Jesus conquered death and the grave so that we could too. It is why we have hope! We have this priceless freedom to enjoy life to its fullest because Jesus conquered the ultimate conflict.
When we feel paralyzed with our anticipation of conflict, we need to remember that conflict is one piece of the story. Our love for the characters in that story will put fear in its place.
Click Embrace Grace to find out more about this ministry.