Jan and I were in our local shopping mall and came across an arcade game called the Hurricane Simulator. It wasn’t tucked away in an arcade room. The machine was placed right on the main thoroughfare of the mall. The advertisement promises hurricane forces winds and a TV screen playing scenes of hurricane destruction to add both a visual and aural component to the experience. I wasn’t interested, only amused. I can only imagine what it would look like to someone who walked by the machine and saw a person inside with their hair flapping around in the wind and their eyes fixed on an imaginary scene of wind-born destruction.

I told Jan, “I know some people who carry a hurricane level of drama with them wherever they go even if no winds of drama exist outside the issues that are disrupting their mind. They just bring their storms with them.” We laughed and continued walking, recalling over the years, some dear souls who perpetually live in that disruptive mindset. At that moment, I also realized I have done the same thing from time-to-time. We can all carry our drama with us and let it mess with not only our peace but the peace of those who have to live with our dysfunction.

Maybe a better way to live would be to simply step out of our personal hurricane simulator and enjoy the peace of God. It is a peace we must choose to experience. God’s peace is not a false environment like the inside of an arcade machine. It is real and actually beyond our ability to explain or create. It promises to fill us and surround us no matter what is taking place. 

To experience this peace, we need to exercise our faith and step into its presence, exchanging our fear and doubt for God’s peace and security. The beautiful thing about God’s peace is that the admission price to experience its reality has already been paid. We only need to believe it is possible and then make a choice to leave the drama behind.