Three-week-old kid goats, Maggie and Chocolate, butt heads during the day, but as dusk falls, they warm one another. Separation as they play causes one to cry to the other for protection. Watching them reunite makes me smile.
Why does behavior that seems intuitive to baby goats not come naturally to humans? How do we accept differing opinions without interrupting essential relationships? We all desperately desire affection and acceptance but struggle to give these relational gifts.
My favorite book presents an explanation – You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. (NLT: 2 Timothy 3: 1 – 4)
In the 50 years I’ve spent nursing, I’ve seen physical health damaged from unresolved relational issues. Wisdom backs what I’ve witnessed. A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones. (AMP: Proverbs 14: 30) We choose our emotional state based on what we believe to be true.
Recognizing my selfish relational struggles brought me to my knees before God. He kindly accepted my sincere confession of poor choices. Then, with His presence and power, I began the journey of reconciliation and letting go. Many are defeated due to self-reliance. This process taught me to trust His promises and let Him change my negative emotional responses.
Again, wisdom promises – Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do this. (NLT: 1 Thessalonians 5: 23 – 25)
God’s waiting to help you know Him through your relational peace journey. Perhaps your growing with God will help others practice the peace those cute kid goats already know.