On the individual level people are looking for peace in a bottle of pills, smoking pot, or drinking alcohol. Although, the person's problems are temporarily covered by this, they don't go away. Sometime too they have created worse problems for themselves such as addiction and poor behavior toward their loved ones around them.
We hear phrases bounced around like, "Pray for World Peace" and we sing about having "Peace like a river in my soul" as we stand in Church. Is peace something that can really be found? More importantly, What does the Bible say about finding peace?
According to the Bible, Peace is actually a process. I am actually somewhere in the middle of this process myself, so I'm not at all speaking as a man who always masters having this peace. Very often do I forget whose child I am and take my focus off of my Lord... in other words, I also get like Peter, and focus on the turmoil around me instead of looking at Jesus, my source, the Prince of peace.
I've learned however, that you cannot be at peace with others until you are at peace with yourself, and you cannot be at peace with yourself until you are at peace with God. So the process is in this order: (1) Peace with God. (2) Peace with yourself. (3) Peace with others.
I've learned however, that you cannot be at peace with others until you are at peace with yourself, and you cannot be at peace with yourself until you are at peace with God. So the process is in this order: (1) Peace with God. (2) Peace with yourself. (3) Peace with others.
Peace with God
Romans 5:1 (NLT) says,
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
We can have an eternal peace with the God of the Universe. I cannot think of anything more awesome or important than this. Just think, the God of the Universe wants peace with you. He wants it so much that He even made it possible to obtain for you.
I remember when I first accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on July 27, 1997 in Taylorsville, NC. That night as I laid my head on my pillow I remembered thinking, "If this is my last night on the earth - all is well." That is perfect peace! It was a perfect peace made possible by God. You cannot purchase that kind of peace, but it did cost Jesus our Lord His life, so it didn't come cheap!
Peace with Yourself
Colossians 3:15 (NLT) says,
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Have you ever met someone with an internal peace? The world can be going crazy around them and they seem to have it all together as if there was some inner tranquility at work in their heart. Christians aren't always the best example of this sadly, but they should be. What often happens is they forget where their source of peace comes from (Jesus), and they focus on the things of this world.
This puts m in mind of Peter as he stepped out of the boat onto the sea and began walking toward Jesus. As long as his focus was on Jesus he was doing the impossible - walking on the water! Instead he began to focus on the wind blowing hard and the waves thrashing around him (the world), then he began to sink.
We can also have this inner peace as the problems of this world thrash around us, if we will just keep our eyes on Jesus. We can have an inner peace even as we face death! This inner peace comes from having that eternal peace with God!
Peace with Others
Romans 12:18 says,
Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
It is God's will for us to try to be at peace with everyone, but if you notice in this verse, God leaves this up to us. I believe God knows that there are some, in fact many people that we cannot be at peace with. Jesus Himself was not at peace with everyone in this world, for the people crucified Him. He also said to His disciples that the world would hate them. As a Christian the world hates you too!
However, once we have found our eternal peace with God, and have our internal or inner peace, we are now better equipped to have external peace or peace with others. It saddens me when I see the Church squabbling with others, and then being portrayed as unloving.
The Prince of Peace
Philippians 4:6,7 (NLT) says,
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
We are called to be a reflection of Christ, but all too often we end up casting a reflection upon Him, then people see Him in an inaccurate way because a man-made filter is covering Him.
The world desperately needs to know the true Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, and not the one we sometimes manufacture according to our doctrines or our preconceived ideas about Him.
I personally never knew peace until finding Jesus. This doesn't mean my problems went away, but my perspective did change however. Instead of focusing on the problems (wind and waves) of this world, my focus shifted to Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith, my Lord, my Savior, the Lover of my soul, and my Prince of Peace.
