"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."
JOHN 14:27 (NIV)
Someone has calculated that there have been 286 years of peace in the last 3,500 years of human history. That's a horrible track record. The peace of the world is fleeting and fragile.
Where conflict reigns, fear also rules. Fear and hatred are profound influences on you and me. Scientists speculate that prolonged fear, hatred, conflict, and forgiveness actually alter our DNA. When peace is missing, we are fragmented and flawed.
God's promise is forever-peace. In his last days on earth, Jesus comforted his anxious disciples: "I leave with you peace. I give you my own peace, and my gift is nothing like the peace of this world. You must not be distressed and you must not be daunted," (PH). The Master knew that his disciples were anxiously grappling with twin realities: touching and talking to him was ending, and his death seemed imminent. Jesus provided forever-peace to return emotional stability to his faltering disciples.
But just what is forever-peace? According to Script
God's peace is a gift. You don't work for it, earn it, psyche yourself up for it, or try really hard to get it. You just accept it.
God's peace does not depend on circumstances. His peace is present in terrible, terrifying, tortuous times. Know why?
God's peace, shalom in Jesus' language, means more than the absence of conflict, it's the presence of all things good!
The bottom line is that God's promise of forever-peace is fulfilled by his forever- presence! So "do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Don't focus on the absence of peace; focus on the presence of God, and his peace will come to you.
What did you hear?
What do you think?
What will you do?
Now talk to God…
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