PEACE IN CHRIST - McKenna Hixson
From the midnight sky, a raven croons, challenging the dove,
In a world so wild and untamed, only peace could save.
In feathers black, the raven calls, longing for a dove,
With wings of boldness, the eagle soars high above.
Black winged creatures fly into the night,
Among the stars, a blue jay takes flight,
The falcon's cry is fearless and tight,
As the swan softly glides in the moonlight.
At dawn, a feisty rooster greets the sunlight,
Under the oak tree, a peacock spreads its beauty.
A cardinal sings, its melody full of duty,
As the wind whispers, the dove proffers serenity.
Amidst the fields, the larks sing of God's peacefulness,
Where the bluebird sings, you'll find God's peace and blissfulness.
In the meadow, God's blessings rain down with tenderness,
As the embrace of heaven's love is forever timeless.
With wings of hope, a sparrow embraces courage,
In the shadow of God's wings, fear melts, releasing bravery.
With a spirit fierce and bright, my soul finds sanctuary,
On the wings of the dove, God's grace whispers tranquility.
Photo credit from CANVA app
In Genesis chapter eight, the flood waters began to recede on earth. The ark Noah built came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. God has times and places for us to rest after seasons of adversity without our foresight. “God told Noah when the flood would come, yet He did not give him an account by revelation at what times and by what steps it should take to go away.”1 The knowledge of God telling Noah He would flood the earth gave him wisdom to prepare and how to build the ark; the knowledge of when all waters had receded would only gratify curiosity and concealing the timing from Noah exercised faith and patience on his part.
Forty days after the appearance of the mountain tops, Noah sent out a raven through a window from the ark. Ravens are dark in color, wild, untamed, and feed off carrion. The raven never returned possibly due to feeding off the carcasses that floated on the water.
Next, Noah sent forth a dove, and it came back. After a second time, the dove came back with an olive branch in its bill plainly showing that trees were appearing above the water. The third time Noah sent forth the dove, it did not return to the ark which meant the water had dried up from the earth.
“The olive branch became the symbol of peace,”2 and the dove the emblem of grace, comfort, and “the messenger of peace.”3 The dove represents the gracious heart and soul “finding no solid peace”4 in this defiled world, as it “returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its Noah, its rest.”5 So does the defiled world return to Christ when it sins once we confess and repent to be transformed to rest in the arms of God.
The carnal heart as in the raven takes its place in the world and feeds off the flesh of the carrion it finds. The defiled world is to the raven whereas living as one with peace united in Christ is to the dove. Noah took the dove and pulled it back into the ark so as Christ came to save, help, and “welcome those that flee to him for rest”6 in His presence.
Noah exhibited patience waiting and faithfully trusting on God during the flood and God telling him when it was safe to exit the ark. During hardships, the flesh tends to want answers quickly from God. We let our hearts become like that of a raven when we lose patience and sinful pride takes over. God wants us to faithfully trust Him and let the peacefulness of the dove rule our hearts.
All birds are bold and brave creatures who totally depend on their Creator (God) for their habitat. They exhibit patience when hunting their food amongst other things. In the poem, “Wings of Tranquility,” each bird described has unique characteristics, but they survive in their natural habitat without fear or hesitation.
Yes, the raven represents a carnal heart and the dove the messenger of peace, but both live within the defiled world with purpose. For us to live in this dark and evil world, we need to respect one another; show God’s loving kindness to one another and do so with the peaceful and gracious heart and soul of the dove.
What’s your choice today – carnal heart of the raven living in fear or one of peace resting in the loving arms of Jesus Christ? My hope your choice is the one with peace. You were created by God for a purpose, and He loves the unique you. Rest in the wings of tranquility which is God almighty. God bless you and your family!
Below is Genesis Chapter 8 (NIV) version.7
"1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
22 'As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.'”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary - Genesis Chapter 8:4-12 https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/8-7.htm
Barnes’ Notes from the Bible - Genesis Chapter 8https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/8-7.htm
Barnes’ Notes from the Bible - Genesis Chapter 8https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/8-7.htm
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary - Genesis Chapter 8:4-12 https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/8-7.htm
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary - Genesis Chapter 8:4-12 https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/8-7.htm
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary - Genesis Chapter 8:4-12 https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/8-7.htm
biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+8&version-NIV
💜💜 this! Thank you for the ark story-one of my many favorites! I am trying to get my substack caught up!!! Many blessings & Happy Easter!!
Good evening or night Anne, this is so beautiful I love the poem Anne. I love that we can choose the raven or the dove which shows peace and love. God gave Noah a great responsibility. And Noah for filled. With Gods love we have nothing to fear. Thank you Anne for sharing and I do choose the dove of peace and love