All Were Scattered

What are some things that strike fear into your heart?  For some it may be the thought of death and for others it may the mere presence of a clown or snake.  For some it may be a resemblance of a traumatic incident.  What does this fear feel like?  For the early church, it was the fear of losing their lives for listening to and believing the One whom the disciples were preaching.  Persecution and death was what stroke fear into the hearts of early believers.

We are told that everyone scattered "except the Apostles."  These were the men who walked, ate, lived, and spent every waking hour with Jesus - His closest companions.  Though they did not scatter then, they did scatter once - the moment when the guards with the Jewish leaders came and arrested Jesus.  They scattered then because they were afraid what would happen to them.  If they arrested Jesus, their teacher, what would they do with them?  Their faith and loyalty were tested.  They failed.  But Jesus did not count it against them.  Now, when persecutions came, they did not scatter but instead stood united and strong, not allowing the fear that once caused them to run away to influence their actions.  This had been a tough journey of strengthening their faith and of deepening their trust in the words of Jesus, "Peace be with you...Do not be afraid, it is I."  

Today the world is so unsettling.  Objective truth is being perverted by the subjective mind and the false comforts of the world.  What is true, good, and beautiful the world has made false, bad, and ugly.  When our falsities are confronted by the truth, our hearts become troubled and our peace robbed.  The only reason why the hearts become troubled and the peace robbed is because we know deep down in our hearts that what we want to believe to be true is actually false and that the peace that settled in our hearts, not true peace at all.  They were all false consolations.  Those are not the fruits of the Spirit of God, but rather the fruits of our biased and skewed rationalizations.

We must stand by the truth. We must reject falsity.  We must renounce lies.  We must seek what is true, good, and beautiful.  We must abandon our wayward ways and return to the Father.  Only then will our hearts be filled with the peace that will never leave.  If we have this peace in our hearts, when persecutions and trials come, we may grow anxious, but we shall not scatter.  "Ut unum sint!"  "That all may be one!" Let us pray, "Father, give me peace!"

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