The Peanut Butter Jar

Picture the scene: There I was, sitting on the landing at the bottom of the basement stairs. At the time, I was living with some friends with young kids, and other than the bathroom, it was the only quiet place in the house. I had an open jar of peanut butter with spoon in hand. This is rarely a good thing, especially when I am left on my own. I was working two jobs, helping my parents through a difficult season in their separate lives, and pursuing seminary studies. I was super busy to say the least and definitely stressed. Oh, and it was the very beginning of a worldwide pandemic.

Suddenly, the door upstairs opened, and I was caught spoon-handed by one of the kids who saw me sitting in the dark with a rather large spoonful of peanut butter in my hand. Thankfully, she didn’t ask me to share because I’m not sure I would have been capable of that kind of generosity in the moment.

There are so many healthier options to ease anxiety when it arises. Normally, I pray or read the Bible. Yoga, while meditating on Scripture is also helpful, as is going for a walk or a run. Journaling my thoughts and turning them into prayer has been exceedingly effective. Listening to worship music reminds me of God’s goodness and that He is in control. Phoning a godly friend helps me laugh at my ridiculousness, reorients my gaze toward God, and away from whatever unsettling situation I find myself in.

That day, however, I chose to eat my stress away instead.

I was looking for peace.

I was looking for comfort.

I was looking for control.

These are all things God provides me with in abundance. Well, except for the control part. He’s got that covered. Now, it is true that there are times when the Lord pushes us well outside our comfort zone to encourage us to grow. Our growth is dependent on the choices we make and where we fix our eyes when faced with adversity. Now, this may have been one of those growth seasons for me.

Enter the spoon and jar of peanut butter. I have sometimes wondered if I might have been looking for God at the bottom of that jar. The world was seemingly spinning out of control, and truth be told, I wasn’t sure where He was at that moment.

Spoiler alert: He wasn’t in that peanut butter jar. I looked. Earnestly. 😳

I have also looked for God at the top of the corporate ladder, in every romantic relationship, and in the security of having my own home and money in the bank. Before I became a Christ follower, I had looked everywhere for God and came up empty-handed. It’s not that He wasn’t there; I didn’t know how to recognize Him because I only had a vague understanding of who He was. In absence of a personal relationship with my Creator, the results of this searching broke my heart time and time again.

But God is not in these things. He is the Giver of these good things; He is the Giver of all things. God is also omnipresent. This means God is everywhere at all times. He was even there that day when I was alone in the dark with my stress and a jar of peanut butter at the bottom of the stairs.

In the moment, however, my head forgot the simple fact of God’s nearness, or perhaps my heart did not fully believe it because of what I was feeling. And I’ve said it before, our feelings are simply indicators and cannot always be trusted. We need to put everything through the filter of God’s word before responding.

And do you know what I find to be the most beautiful and reassuring of all? That none of this was a surprise to my heavenly Father and yet He still loves me. God wasn’t surprised when in my humanity, I temporarily put my hope in a finite jar of peanut butter rather than His loving and eternal presence. No, He was not surprised, nor was He disappointed. God simply wants me to draw my peace and strength from His presence at all times and in all circumstances.

And the best way I know how to do this is to enter more fully into intimate presence with my Father in worship and in prayer, by meditating on His word, and joining a community of faith. Because if you truly love someone, you want to spend as much time with him or her as possible, with no further delay. This is how you build intimacy in relationship, and we get to start doing so with God in this life, in preparation for our eternity with Him.

Make no mistake about it: The choices we make now determine where we will spend eternity. We get to seek God and enter into relationship with Him by placing our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, for our eternal hope and salvation. We trust Jesus is who He said He was, God’s one and only Son who died for our sins, and we accept God’s gracious invitation.

It is here we can find sustaining peace and strength when anxious feelings creep in, not in whatever else we are currently grasping for. We understand how vast God is, and how fruitless it is to seek comfort elsewhere. God is always present, He always has been present, and He always will be. This is really good news.

The choice is yours. Will you daily choose Jesus or your jar of peanut butter (i.e.: whatever else you are turning to before Him)?

“People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray” (Proverbs 10:17, NLT).

Take care, my friends, and I pray you find peace and strength this week.

Alison

Photo credit: AtlasStudio on istock.com