Peace

The word peace is frequently used in our culture: turn on the news and you hear about peace in the Middle East; tune into pop culture and the peace symbol is displayed on jackets and jeans; talk to a hippie and you will hear him say “peace out.” With all this talk about peace, why don’t we have peace?

Jesus even promised peace. He told His disciples in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

If Jesus promised peace, then why do we still strive for it? What went wrong?

There are three answers to that question. For starters, most people don’t know Jesus, so they don’t know peace. Secondly, there is sin in this cursed world, and sin will always produce violence and victims.

But also we must realize that we do not define peace the same way that Jesus did. We think of peace in terms of a cease-fire, treaty, or some intervention. Try as we might, we cannot make someone peaceful. Try as our government might, we cannot make a people peaceful. Peace is personal. Peace, as Jesus promised, is strength for the difficult times.

Jesus promised that in this world we will continue to have tribulation, but through Him we can have peace. That does not mean that believing in Jesus will magically make all hardships go away, but it does mean that Jesus will walk us through the hardships, even strengthening us along the way.

Earlier in John 14 Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be our comforter, and later Paul would write that a fruit that the Spirit would produce in the Christian life is peace. Are you going through a difficult time? Then pray to the God of peace, who bestows a “peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7).” 

Never Alone

Many of us have felt lonely from time to time—we have been dumped, misunderstood, abandoned, widowed, or forgotten. On days that we feel like we are all alone, let us remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:20:

“…and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.”

Jesus was just about to leave His disciples and go to heaven, and yet He tells them that He will still be with them. Humanly speaking, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

God is with us all the time, and if you ever feel lonely, here are three things that He still does for us. First, He checks us out. God is always watching us, and He sees what is done in secret. In Matthew 6:4 He says that He sees when we give in secret and He will reward us openly, and in Numbers 32:23 it says that even our secret sins will find us out.

God also comforts us. Through His Holy Spirit God offers us comfort. John 14:26 teaches us this. But that word comforter means more than simply a shoulder we can cry on; it means that God will build our strength to get us through it. Some will say, “I can’t fix your problem but I will be here for you.” God says, “I will be here for you and fix your problem.” Not all of life’s problems will be fixed, but God will make us better equipped to handle them.

Finally, God coaches us. Instead of leaving us to navigate life on our own, God’s Spirit promises to lead us into truth (John 16:13). A good coach teaches his players how to play, and God teaches His children how to live.

If you ever feel down, remember that God is checking you out, He comforts, and He is here to coach us.