DISCOVERING TRUE PEACE

 John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

                When you think of peace, what comes to your mind? Everyone has a little different understanding of what peace is. For a young mother of three children, it is a quiet afternoon without any crying or demanding children. For many people in the world, peace is the end of armed conflict and bloodshed. For others, peace is a sense of inner tranquility and contentment.

                In one way or another, we are all looking for peace in our lives. We don’t want our lives to be filled with turmoil. We want to find tranquility and security. In order to find the peace we long for, we may take a number of different paths.

                It is common today for people to seek peace through aggressive action. Whether they are protesting war or perceived injustice, they see the path to peace through protest and active resistance. They believe that if you want peace you have to fight for it.

                Some people take the exact opposite approach to finding peace. Instead of aggressively engaging their world, they choose to withdraw from it. These people seek peace through retreat and seclusion. They just move as far away from the cause of unrest as possible. There is a movement today of people leaving the big cities for a more peaceful environment in smaller towns and villages. In some extreme cases, a person might pull out of society completely, such as the monastic movement of the Middle Ages.

                Many people today are looking for peace through artificial means. When they feel they can no longer cope with the stress of life, they turn to drugs and alcohol to numb their senses. In this, they find a certain sense of peace, as long as the effects of the drug last.

                There is still another way that people strive to find peace. That is through embracing a cause that they feel will really make a difference in the world. It may be a political cause, a social cause, or an environmental cause. By focusing their energy on a specific cause, they find a sense of purpose and peace.

                There is one thing that is common with all of these ways of achieving peace; they are all temporary. They just don’t last for the long haul. The peace they offer is fragile and easily disturbed. Many people discover that they are dissatisfied with the results and become disillusioned.

                That raises the question, is there such a thing as genuine, lasting peace? If there is, how can we find it? At times, this quest looks hopeless. There is always another war, another endangered species, more noise and turmoil in our world. As we face this reality, we can slip into despair. But there is hope for finding peace. That hope is not found in a cause but in a person, Jesus Christ.

                Jesus promised that all who would put their faith in Him would find peace. Not the peace that the world offers, but a real, lasting peace that transcends the circumstances of life. The Jews have a word that describes this kind of peace; it is the world Shalom. Shalom is a sense of well-being that is not dictated by our surroundings. It is instead a feeling of completeness and soundness. It is a state of being that comes from the inside of a person and works its way into all of life. Ever in the midst of turmoil and strife a person can experience shalom. This is the kind of peace that Jesus is offering to us.

                The Bible calls Jesus the Prince of Peace. Our most common understanding of a prince is someone who is in a position of political and social power. In Jesus’ day, a prince was expected to lead his people into battle. Jesus turned that idea upside down. Instead of leading people into more conflict, Jesus leads people into peace.

                Jesus can do this for us through His character. Jesus was able to face all of the challenges of life and not lose His cool, so to speak. He could do this because He was grounded in a clear understanding of who He is and what His purpose in life was. When we place our faith in Jesus, we gain a new status as children of God. We are secure in Jesus no matter what the circumstances of life throw at us.

                Jesus accomplished this new identity for us through His death and resurrection. When Jesus died on the cross, He won the ultimate battle with sin and death. Jesus conquered sin and death and set us free from the consequences of our own sinful nature. As it says in Romans 8:1-2, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

                When we turn to Jesus in faith, He grants us peace before God the Father. We are reconciled to God for all of eternity. Nothing can then separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We are secure and we can live at peace with ourselves and with God. But Jesus also offers us peace with one another. Too often the cause of strife in our lives in competition with those around us. We feel we have to prove ourselves, or show that we are better than others. Because we have a new status with God, through Jesus, we no longer have to strive for these things. Instead, we are freed to really love and care for others, with no strings attached. Jesus loves us unconditionally, so we can love others unconditionally.

                The kind of peace that Jesus offers us is not a shallow emotion based on feelings and circumstances. It is a deep confidence and joy based on the victorious work of Jesus on the cross. The peace of Jesus’ companionship goes beyond the situations we might find ourselves in. So even in difficult times, we can experience peace. No matter what we face in life, we are never alone or abandoned. Jesus has promised to always be with us to strengthen and encourage us along the way.

                Too often in life, we settle for something less than real peace. We put much effort into creating an artificial peace that cannot last. But real peace is available to us, if we will only turn toward the Prince of Peace and follow Him.

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.