This is a guest post from Dr. Ibrahim Barsoum - a longtime friend and mentor who has guest posted on my blog before.  In this post, he shares a beautiful meditation about the trials and tribulations of life and about how God sees them all from His perspective.  If you too are interested in guest posting on my blog, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.

At a beautiful site in the mountains, I sat at a pond meditating on the beauty of God’s creation as revealed in the majestic mountain, the trees, the farmland, and the farming animals. As I looked in the pond I saw a beautiful reflection of the tall trees and the mountain on the surface of the water. It was a splendid view of God’s creation reflected on the still water of the pond.

Suddenly, a wind blew on the surface of the water and the pond became wavy. The beautiful picture of the mountain and the trees became distorted and unclear as if it was no more there. After a while, the wind stopped, and the water became still again, and the beautiful picture of the trees and mountain appeared again reflected in a splendid view in the pond.

I meditated on this event and thought of what happens in our personal life. When we are still and at peace, and our hearts are pure, the image of God is reflected in our life and we can see God “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Also, others can see God reflected in our life: “So that I live, not I but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

However, when sin enters into our hearts and the winds of trials and tribulations blow in our life, our hearts become troubled, we lose our peace and serenity, and we can no longer see God or reflect His image to others. But, when we repent and the winds of tribulations stop blowing, we regain the serenity and peace of the heart and God’s glory shine back in us.

Let us learn to stand still in the Lord, to purify our hearts so that we can see God and reflect His glory in our life. When the winds of adversity blow, let us cling to God with all our power through prayer, meditation in the Word, and by abiding in Christ in Holy Communion.  Trust that the winds of adversity will soon disappear and God’s love will shine again in us.

As He promised “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1).  Remember that it is in Christ that we’ll find our true peace as He promised to us over and over again.

Discussion: How can you bring your heart to a still and enjoy the peace and love of God in your life?