Peace in the Crazy

I walked a short distance from my unit, the scorching sun beating down on my back, and the heat from the ground burning the bottoms of my flip flops, making me sweat a little more. Feelings of exhaustion came over me like waves as I looked to see if there was a jeepney I could ride to the store. There was one. I should have known, I could hear it coming. But I guess I have become a little immune to the intensity of noise and traffic pollution here. "What is a jeepney?" I hear you say. Well, jeepney's are the most popular means of public transport in the Philippines. They are super cheap. I pay 8 pesos a ride (which is 11 pence in English money). They are well known for their crowded seating and crazy art work and are a symbol of Filipino culture. Jeepney's were originally made from U.S. military jeeps left over from world war ll. So as you can imagine, they are very old, and rattle a lot!!

I nodded to the driver that I wanted to ride and quickened my steps into the road to jump on. The entrance is at the back of the jeep, a high step up and then I have to duck really low because of the restricted height (plus I'm classed as a giant in this part of the world 😂). It's difficult to enter and exit the jeepney. I scrambled through the long seating, bashing the knees of almost everyone as I tried to find a place where my big English backside could fit 😂 I sat down and handed my money to the driver saying, "baya po". And breathe. I was out of the sun. But I had not got into an air conditioned vehicle. We like to say the jeepney's have air continuous! Not long had I been sat down and the driver stopped in the middle of the road with more passengers piling in. And boy did they pile in. You have to be ok with proximity when riding the jeepney! I now had people sat either side of me and I wasn't sure if it was my sweat that was seeping through my t.shirt, or theirs! 😂 My knees were now pretty much touching the person in front of me and it was stifling hot. Its difficult for the air to flow because of the low windows and the long roof making visibility and air flow poor.

Jeepney's are pretty much mechanically unsound. I know my mechanic friends would have a field day under the jeepney bonnet and probably heart palpitations riding it! The tyres are balding, the whole jeep shakes because the frame is so distorted and the emissions are very poor. Every bump in the road is felt and quite often my head crashes into the top of the jeep. Ouch! On this particular day I was feeling so hot, not only because of the heat but also the 2 bodies sat either side of me. There was so much chaos and disorder going on around, fumes from the vehicles and sewage was nauseating, the heat was draining, the sound of traffic was deafening and each bump we went over I was sliding off the sweat of my neighbour as well as cracking my head or shoulder blades on the side of the jeepney. I was feeling overwhelmed and for a moment I felt slightly suffocated and claustrophobic. I'm sure there were far too many people on the jeep that day.

We stopped in the middle of a cross roads, there were tricycles, jeeps, and cars all around, people shouting, guards whistling, it was grid lock and every vehicle on the road was in the wrong position. The searing noise of two ambulances felt like it would perforate my ear drum. Even the ambulance wasn't given priority to get through. It was chaos. Now, for me, this is a normal jeepney journey, but this time, this day, I just couldn't deal with it. I wanted out, but there was no way out. Some of you have never experienced a crazy jeepney ride in Manila but you know just what I'm talking about. Life has taken its toll on you, chaos and calamity have been in your life for too long, you feel sick to your stomach and you just can't seem to push through. In the middle of that crazy jeepney ride that day, I closed my eyes, inhaled and exhaled. As soon as I did that peace flooded my mind, because I took my eyes off the current circumstance and turned my attention to the One who holds my life in His hands. Jesus. I began to smile as I felt His presence in the jeepney with me, I was surrounded by love and peace, and the chaos seemed to melt away. I began to talk to God, throwing my overwhelming and exhausted state into His greatness. I told Him that I was feeling weak, and He reminded me that when I'm weak, that's when His strength is perfected in me. I asked for more peace and joy to get through the often crazy days here. Even though the rest of the jeepney ride was still manic, my thoughts and inner state had changed, I had very simply connected with God. I found the peace that already lives on the inside of me. I connected to my inner calm, despite the crazy still going on around me.

The bible says to cast our cares on the Lord. The Passion Translation so beautifully puts it in 1 Peter 5:7, "Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you." Or in other words, 'load upon him your every anxiety, for he is always watching over you with tender care.' See, I've been on a jeepney hundreds of times over the last 7 years, and mostly it's hectic. I've also been through a lot of life, a lot of crazy, the world has thrown chaos at me more than once. But, in order to flourish in life, we need to get good at finding our inner calm in the crazy. The more we go through life, the more we go through crazy.

I don't know what you're facing today, but if it's chaotic and confusing, full of anxiety, can I encourage you to take your heavy load and leave it at the feet of Jesus. You are not meant to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. It's not yours to carry. Jesus came to set you free from the crazy of this world. And He is right there with you, today, arms outstretched and ready to take your anxieties, your cares and concerns off of you. He wants to fill your life with peace, joy and strengthen your inner being. My prayer for you today is that you'll choose to give it to Him, be free and be filled with supernatural peace. Psalm 55:22, "So here's what I've learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you."