Peace Not As The World Gives

Peace Not As The World Gives

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27

We want peace. We want peace in our world; in our nation; in our city; in our home; and in our soul. Peace in the soul is the antecedent to peace in all those other places. Soul peace makes for peace in relationships. On the night before He went to the cross, Christ spoke to His disciples and declared, ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’  He sets the ‘peace’ which He imparts to His people in stark contrast to the ‘peace’ which the world gives. What is the source and substance of the ‘peace’ which the world gives? The ‘peace’ which the world gives is both temporal and temporary. I may find ‘peace’ in the provision I have made for my future; in my work; my wealth; or my intellectual ability to problem-solve. I may find a form of ‘peace’ in some practice that takes me to my ‘happy place.’ I may engage in some activity which gives me a form of ‘peace,’ for a brief time. All of these sources of ‘peace’ may disappear in a moment. None of them can provide lasting peace. By contrast, the peace which Christ gives is transcendent and permanent. It is an eternal peace because its’ Source is the Eternal One. Christ gives peace that earthly circumstances cannot destroy. He holds us, like a loving parent holds a small child, in a warm and secure embrace. From that embrace we can peacefully view all the tumultuous circumstances which occur before us. Christ is the Reason we have ‘peace with God,’ and also the ‘peace of God keeping our hearts and minds.’ Here is strength for the day.

O, Great and Mighty God,
You are our Fortress, our Strength, and our Helper.
You hold us up, when ‘all around our soul gives way,
You then are all our Hope and Stay.’

Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice