Peace. The hippies sang about it. Congress tries to legislate it. And the United Nations wants to mediate it. And yet, in 2016, we look at our world and, if we are honest with ourselves, we see that our generation is no closer to achieving peace than any of the previous generations were. Civil war rages in Syria. ISIS wreaks havoc on all who stand in their way throughout the Middle East. Race riots and school shootings have erupted in the United States.
Peace remains an elusive desire for mankind—technology may advance, law books may grow thicker, but true peace between nations and neighbors has yet to be seen.
The peace that the Lord Jesus offers those who trust in Him is a penetrating peace. Unlike the peace the world tries to establish, the peace of God is planted within the heart of the individual. It is a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), the kind of peace that can look a pink slip or a grim diagnosis in the eye, not absent of questions or concerns, but a settled confidence in the One who knows the number of hairs on our heads and who takes notice even when a sparrow falls to the ground.
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” –John 14:27
As a little boy, when my heart was troubled by things like bad dreams and scary dogs, my first reaction was to run to my dad. I didn’t know how or why he could make everything okay again, but I knew that he could and he would.
Our heavenly Father is the same. Jesus tells us not to be troubled or afraid because His peace is with us. Notice there are no qualifiers to Jesus’ statement about not being afraid. He doesn’t say, “…unless the stock market crashes,” “…unless you hear the word ‘cancer,’” “…unless you can’t see a way out of your dire circumstances.”
Jesus’ words are those of the all-knowing God, the One who knows the beginning from the end. Before we were even born, God knew the trials we would go through. He knew how wicked our culture would be. And yet He gave the charge—“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
In the world we are living in today, it is easy to be anxious about our circumstances, about the future of this world. But as followers of the risen Messiah, the peace of God is a “new birthright,” something we have access to through Jesus. It is our privilege and responsibility, not only to receive that peace, but to tell the tempest-tossed world how they might have it too.
What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
Buried deep in the heart of my soul;
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll.
–W.D. Cornell
(Public Domain)
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Thanks Ty for this lovely devotional.
I love your analogy of running to your Dad when you were a child which is a lovely precursor and comforting thought provoker when we think of our Heavenly Fathers even greater love and even bigger arms and even greater comfort.
What bliss!!
Another great article, Ty. You sure know how to put words together in a meaningful manner!
Thanks for sharing.
Peace !