Peace

Peace. Can you feel it? Can you hear it? Are you in the midst of it? Peace can be described as tranquility in the midst of uncertainty. Quiet amongst the chaos. It is all around us, engulfing our hearts, minds, and our bodies. It can swallow us up entirely, but only if we allow it to. And why wouldn’t we? Who wouldn’t want to walk around free from stress and anxiety? If you’re anything like the rest of the world’s population, you would love to live even one day in complete and utter peace.

We refer to it as a dream. Something unattainable, far beyond our reach. We may wish for it while we toss a penny into a fountain closing our eyes shut as if we are somehow trying to convey to the universe to set it free. It is something that we often talk about as a rite of passage that once we pass away, we will finally be allowed to rest in it.
We search for it endlessly, always trying to buy more of it in the form of insurance policies, stocks, and investments.

Would you believe me if I told you that it’s possible to have it each and every day? It’s true! Once you’ve accepted Jesus as your personal savior, it’s yours. Peace is a gift from God. In 1 John 14:27 Jesus says “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid”. Jesus knew that life here on Earth would be full of trials and that the pressures of the world would be relentless against our minds, so he offers us peace. We just have to accept it.
Colossians 1:20 says that through Jesus Christ, “God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in Heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross”. The only way we will experience God’s perfect peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding, is through the blood that was shed from Jesus on the cross. You can’t have the peace of God without having peace in God and his plan.

The presence of peace is the absence of confusion and chaos. I’ve heard peace defined as a deep, impermeable conviction that all is well with your soul. Peace is having the knowledge and confidence that God is in control of not just the universe, but your life. Not just pieces of your life, but your life entirely. And if he is in control of your life then you can live in harmony with God in your everyday living.

This means that when life happens, and it will happen, he will be our peace if you choose to receive it. There will be days when everything around us seems to be falling apart and it feels like we’re about to get swept up in a whirlwind, or on a really crazy day, it may even feel like an F-5 tornado. Where the warm, moist air lingers in the day to attract the opposing winds of cold, dry air and they begin to violently collide against each other creating mass destruction. It attempts to swallow everything in its path, but only sends things spewing out at massive speeds, tearing it apart as it’s released back onto the calm ground. But somewhere in the center, quietly lies the eye of the storm, the calmest place in the tornado. When Jesus is our center, and we seek Him in the quiet space, we will find our peace.

Colossians 3:15 says. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful”. Not only does he tell us to let peace rule our hearts, but that we were called to peace. We were not meant to worry about anything at all. He is not a God of chaos or confusion, he is a God of order. The peace that surpasses all understanding is ours for the taking, not only do we need to accept it, we need to believe we have it, knowing that whatever may happen, God is always in control!