God Prefers Bees to Wars

Over the past few years I have become more and more aligned with pacifist thinking. Many Christians that I speak to think I’m crazy to believe that we can have peace without having to use violence. My answer is always the same, “I believe God can, and will give us creative strategies to overcome evil when we take violence off the table.” These strategies are a mixture of creativity, common sense, and the supernatural.One of my favourite examples of this in the Bible is found in a couple of places - Exodus 23:8, Deuteronomy 7:20 and Joshua 24:12. God talks about sending a hornet ahead of the people of God to move them along. The idea here is that God is using a natural means (bees) to shift the tribes around. Just like the signs in Egypt (think of the plagues He sent) He didn’t want to destroy people, He had a creative supernatural alternative.Sure, violence sometimes feels like the most natural response to evil. Sometimes it even feels like the only proper solution. But what I am noticing in my own world, is that when I stop, take a breath, and ask God for a creative solution, He answers. Imagine what could happen if we took violence off the table and started asking God for creative, common sense, and supernatural alternatives. Next time you are thinking of a violent response, remember, God prefers bees to wars.