Let’s face reality for a moment. Today, life in America is pretty crazy. We live in a highly politicized society, a highly sexualized society, and a highly dysfunctional one too. People aren’t happy and there seems to be no shortage of stressors. You’re abnormal if you aren’t affected by Russia and Ukraine, inflation, gas prices, and any other headline-making its way through the populace. There’s so much on our minds and so little comfort to find.
Honestly though, stressing out about life, though common, is not good. God didn’t call His children to live life stressed, or unhappy at that.
But if we exist during a time where so many things vie for our attention and so many things seem to be going wrong all at once, what do we do? Is there any way to find peace? The answer is yes. In short, we turn our focus away from the news, away from problems, and away from ourselves. We turn our gaze instead to God and remind ourselves of His Word.
In other words, we trade in problems for Truth.
The next time emotions swell within you, anxiety clouds your judgment, or you fear the world is ending, turn to God. Here are 3 parables to read when you need comfort.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
The Parable of the Mustard Seed can be read in the fourth chapter of the Book of Mark. In this brief tale, Jesus gives a visual illustration to explain the power of Christian faith. He compares the kingdom of God to “a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:31-32).
This parable speaks to the glory that springs from cultivating faith. And faith is cultivated through humility. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). If we think less about the kingdom of God and more about our individual faith, we’ll see that Jesus’ words have the same application. Our individual faith is just like the tree. We begin cultivating a belief system young or later in life, and through continual experiences with God, we strengthen that belief. We water our faith which grows like a tree.
God isn’t expecting us to be perfect, but He does desire for us to believe. If we take that first step, then God will work within us to perfect us. That’s the transition from seed to tree.
More practically speaking, humility allows us to trade in our will for God’s. That’s when we find comfort. Humility says, “I don’t know, but God does.” We get exalted from poor circumstances in due time and wind up finding the comfort we desired, and sometimes the comfort we never knew we needed (1 Peter 5:6).
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
In Luke 18 we encounter another short parable from Jesus, this one detailing the tough circumstances faced by an unnamed widow. She had an issue with an unspecified “adversary” and kept going to the town’s judge to enact retribution. She wanted justice to be done, but the judge had no interest in helping her. The widow decided to keep making her plea to the apathetic and seemingly unchanging man. Jesus doesn’t say how frequently the woman pestered the judge but she kept making her case, time and time again.
This judge who was faithless and apathetic towards others eventually had a change of heart. Her constant, and likely emotional pleas, wore down the man’s hardened heart.
Jesus compared the judge to God. The unjust man was slow to act on the woman’s behalf and his care for her was nonexistent. God is just the opposite with us. He acts on our behalf, maybe not at our desired speed, but He undoubtedly acts. Furthermore, God looks after us because of how much He cares. The woman could find comfort in the judge after he worked to support her. With God, we can find His perfect peace even before our circumstances change (Isaiah 26:3).
What we have to do is be persistent like the widow, persistent in prayer, and persistent in making sure our focus is God. The widow’s adversary could have been another person, or the adversary could be symbolic of an internal struggle. Whatever the case, surely we can pinpoint threats to our lives that exist within us, and also issues that don’t.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Luke 10 offers a very popular parable that even nonbelievers mention from time to time. The Parable of the Good Samaritan serves to remind us of the second greatest commandment. Jesus calls us to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). In this parable, two people society called to hate one another defied expectations. A Samaritan helped out a Jew.
We should refer to this passage whenever we are questioning whether or not to hate or act against certain people in our lives. As some in society wish to destigmatize pedophilia, what do we do in response? There are people teaching sex to young children. How do we treat them? And what about people mistreating Russians simply because they are Russian and their home country is invading another?
Scripture doesn’t suggest we treat everyone the exact same way, quite the opposite. That being said, passages like this parable serve as a guiding light for how we go about living life in a way that honors God. Living life in a godly way is bound to bring us peace in the end.
Conclusion
Reading God’s Word is a sure practical solution to the stress that encompasses our minds. Through God’s Word, we learn how to surrender to His will. We learn to trust God and put confidence in Him, not our circumstances. We begin to realize more and more that the present world is indeed passing away. Today is temporary and always making room for tomorrow. We make the most of life when we don’t waste our time dwelling on the negative and what we can’t control. Let’s instead turn our attention to what’s good in life and all the good God has given.
Some of us may need to change the topic of certain conversations when we gather with friends. Some of us may need to take a break from the news or social media. Whatever the case may be, a change in perspective is essential. With God at the forefront of our minds, everything else will take its place naturally. We just need to make sure we do our part too.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
Photo Credit: ©Ben White/Unsplash
Aaron D'Anthony Brown is a freelance writer, hip-hop dance teacher, and visual artist, living in Virginia. He currently contributes to Salem Web Network’s Crosswalk platform and supports various clients through the freelancing website Upwork. He's an outside-the-box thinker with a penchant for challenging the status quo.
Get in touch with him at aarondanthony.com and check out his debut short story anthology Honey Dreams on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.