Peace

What bothers you most about the life that you're living? What is it that consumes more of your thoughts than you would willingly give? Is it a concern about the amount of money you have or will have, or don't have, to take care of your needs? Is it the health of your children or other loved ones? Is it just the thought of growing old itself? Is it some unfair, unfortunate event that had a negative impact on your life some time in the past?

This list is not close to complete is it? We could classify most of these, and most other, concerns as worry over an uncertain future, or grudges from the past. On an even deeper level, all such situations rob a person of that one thing I am certain almost everyone is looking for. What we could have if not for all such concerns is peace.

We might define peace as the absence of all things that interfere with peace. (I know how unsatisfactory such a definition is but I still like it.) Peace is what you have when all the things that would bother you are unable to affect you in a negative way. Peace is the absence of turmoil. Peace is also something promised by God to those who believe in Him.

John 16:33 "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace." Phil 4:7 "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." 2 Thess. 3:16 "May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way." Isaiah 26:3 "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you." John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you." Col. 3:16 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body."

It is also interesting to notice that the apostle Paul's opening greeting in every letter he is known to have written (I believe he wrote Hebrews even though this salutation is missing) he wished the recipient "grace and peace." I think we can agree that a troubled heart and fearfulness are the opposite of peace. Jesus famously said in John 14:1, "Let not your heart be troubled," and then followed that up in John 14:27 with, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Between the two he inserted the quote regarding peace that is included in a prior paragraph.

It is clear that Jesus wanted His people to have peace. But if any of the worries listed at the beginning of this article are on our minds, then by definition, we don't have peace. Why is this?

Have you noticed that a special, unusual reference to God's peace is made in the New Testament? Paul says in Phil. 4:7 "The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Notice, the peace of God surpasses all understanding, and it will guard your hearts and minds.

It seems so easy for us humans to forget the vast difference that exists between the Creator and the created, between God and us. Review Isaiah 55:8-9. God says his ways and thoughts are as far above ours as the heavens are above the earth. The sense He intended to give may have been easier for a mankind that had never experienced flight to understand than it is for a people that have gone to the moon. But getting to the moon should have impressed on us how feeble we really are in comparison to God.

God's peace is a part of that difference. God has the peace, and He is willing, desirous even, of supplying us with it. We read of some of His people that have apparently experienced it: Abraham leaving the only life he knew to launch out into the unknown with never so much as a questioning attitude (Gen. 12,) David taking on Goliath (1Samuel 17,) Shadrach, Meshach and Nebednego, refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image (Dan 3, read their statement to the king,) Paul and Silas singing praises in the Philippian jail (Acts 16.) Others could be cited, but this is sufficient to highlight that God has had followers that have a peace inside that doesn't correlate to the mindset born of the physical world.

Why don't we all have that peace? There is a dichotomy, a separation, between God's ways and our ways, and God's peace is on His side and we are on our side of that dichotomy. There is a dichotomy between spiritual nature and physical nature and God's peace is on the spiritual side. We have to bridge the separation between these dichotomies in order to achieve any level of the peace of God. There is a peace that is of the world, John 14:27, but that is not to be confused with God's transcendent peace. Nor is it the peace the child of God should be looking for or needs.

God's peace surpasses understanding so we should never expect to understand it, or be upset because we don't. So much for that dichotomy. Perhaps we can understand the difference between the spiritual and the physical. The physical is all about the needs of and catering to the physical body and mindset. The spiritual is all about the needs of and catering to the spiritual soul. Humans have a physical body, and a spiritual soul. In other words, we seem well equipped to bridge that particular gap. In brief, what is involved and required is spelled out in Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you make your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly and acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual service."

If one is not "bridging" (reconciling?) the physical/spiritual gap it is because this living sacrifice of the body spoken of by Paul is not being made. A living sacrifice is made whenever the desires of the physical body are not in harmony with the spiritual needs of the soul and the body is therefore metaphorically "thrown under the bus" for the benefit of the soul. The benefit of God and His kingdom is our concern, not the preference of the physical body apart from the soul.

As stated a moment ago, we will never be able to bridge the gap between God and us, between God's ways and our ways, between God's thoughts and our thoughts. What is required here is faith, or said another way, trust. We have to trust that God in his infinite wisdom just might have the correct idea of what we should be doing and how it will work out for us. We must trust that when he says, in essence, "Spend the next 100 yrs of your life building a huge boat in a world that has never seen rain," He has a reason for it, and He knows what He's talking about.

"But look how that worked out for Stephen when the crowd stoned him in Acts 7," you say. Well, what do you think Stephen might have done before he reached that point? I'm quite certain Stephen had made a living sacrifice of his body, yes, before Romans was written. That's why as the gruesome spectacle unfolded with Stephen as the victim he was able to say calmly in verse 59, "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit." If you need a visual illustration of God's peace that surpasses understanding take a long close look at this picture. Stephen, was totally at peace, the peace of God.

What is the result of all that we have considered? If you want to have the peace of God that passes understanding, you have to meet some conditions. Praying, "God give me this peace," is not enough, a little like Matt. 7:21-23. You must be willing to sacrifice your body in the service of God. You must be willing to trust - totally and unflinchingly trust - in God's wisdom to ask of you those things that are in your best interest and in the interest of His kingdom, to the seeming exclusion of your physical, worldly concerns. And you must trust that He is able to stand by what He has said He is able, and willing, to do. Otherwise, peace that surpasses understanding will never be yours.

But if you are willing to make such a sacrifice, and if you are willing to trust unflinchingly like the three young Hebrew men, you're attitude regarding the world and it's troubles can change in a way that other people will not comprehend. You will see the following verses come to life in a way that you never fathomed before. And you will be at peace.

Romans 8:28 "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." 33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and also is risen, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,, or peril, or sword? 37 in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Grace be unto you and peace.