MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH EVERYONE

When you become an empty nester, the house is eerily quiet. There is a long adjustment period after your house has been filled with squeals and laughter and the occasional argument. After a couple of months, you start to adjust to your new normal, and the quiet doesn’t seem as eerie as before.

The funny thing about an empty nest is, it may not stay empty for long. Some people might start filling their nests with fur babies to give them something to care for. Fur babies don’t talk, but they do give you a lot of love and affection, and that helps you cope with the empty nest. Or, one or more of your children might move back in with you, and the adjustment period starts all over again.

Children go off to college and start to taste freedom for the first time. They no longer have someone making sure they study, eat right, go to bed early, or make it to class on time. AND, THEY LOVE IT! They seem to adjust way better than the parents who are still back at home.

But, semesters end and some children come back home, at least for a small period of time. Parents still want to “parent” and the children still want “freedom,” so there is bound to be some conflicts.

My daughter is in her 30s, has been living on her own for many years. But, she has moved back home with Joe and me, and the adjustment period is in full swing. I’ve given her a lot of leeways to come and go and make herself at home in whatever way she wants. However, she and Joe are natured exactly alike, and the conflicts have already begun.

As quickly as spats arise, they are usually settled just as quickly. The other morning, they started quarreling and neither one was willing to listen to the other. Usually, I am the referee, but I got fed up with them, so I picked up my computer and headed to the basement to work. I gave Joe the “look,” and he knew that I was not pleased with how they were acting.

When I got to the basement, I opened up my phone and my Bible verse of the day popped up. I opened it because I knew that I needed to read the Lord’s word to calm down. Isn’t it funny how the Lord works?

Hebrews 12:14

¹⁴ Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Here I am, sitting in the basement, stewing because my daughter and husband aren’t behaving like I want them to. When I read Hebrews 12:14, I knew that “I” hadn’t made every effort to live in peace, I had stormed off in frustration. That was not the best way to handle the situation, and it sure was holy. To be holy, was the remainder of the verse, and holy was not how I acted. I acted like a child, and I stomped off because I wasn’t getting my way.

I prayed for guidance, and that the Holy Spirit would show us how to all live in peace during this adjustment phase. Then, I sent Joe a screenshot of my Bible verse. He messaged back that they had already worked things out, and then thanked me for sending the verse. He said that he needed the reminder just like I did.

Your situation might not be a child moving back home. It might be a co-worker that is giving you a hard time, or maybe a family member takes every opportunity to belittle you whenever they are around. We all have someone in our lives that can get under our skin. It doesn’t matter who it is causing the issues in your life, we are to make EVERY effort to live in peace with EVERYONE and to be holy. We might be the only person they know who could show them what being holy looks like, and it is not stomping off to the basement.

Because, without holiness, none of us will see the Lord.

To God Goes The Glory!

Have A Blessed Day!