Thesis: God doesn’t offer us partial peace. He offers us the whole deal.
I saw an interesting phrase on a t shirt the other day. It said, among other things, “more
peace.”
I thought about that. I struggled with it. Afterall, if it is possible to have “more peace”
that means I had “less peace.” The idea suggests that peace can be had in bits and
pieces, that we can have “imperfect peace” or “partial peace.” I don’t think I buy that.
My first reaction to the phrase was experiential, that is born of my experience. I know
that if there are a hundred issues I am dealing with right now, a hundred things that
could be bringing me anxiety, stress, or worry, and that ninety nine of them are perfectly under control, my mind will devote 99% of my thinking to the one single matter that doesn’t look good. Nearly everything is good, but I may not have peace.
So if everything else is going really well, but the oil in my truck really, really needs to be
changed, when I lay down my head to sleep tonight my thoughts will be on one thing--my truck and its desperate cry for new oil.
So, based on my experience, peace is usually something one has or doesn’t have.
Scripture presents two kinds of peace. Peace as the world gives, and peace as Jesus
gives. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
There is a peace that the world offers. It is produced by what we have. If I have
enough money, influence, power, powerful friends, so on and so forth, then I will have
peace. Or at least a measure of it. The truth about this peace is that it is transitory at
best and a delusion at worst. I think the ultimate expression of this kind of thinking is the
phrase “Peace thru Superior Firepower.” It is most frequently seen on t-shirts and
bumper stickers (not good places to look for advice). The origin of this phrase is
somewhat cloudy, but it was used in a 1988 episode of Star Trek, another great source
for advice.
The peace that Jesus gives is altogether different. It is a whole peace. Paul wrote to the
Philippian church, saying, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." His peace is the peace. It is a
something, it is a whole. It is perfect peace. "The steadfast of mind You will keep in
perfect peace, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3. Most importantly, it is a given
peace. Jesus said, “My peace I give to you…”
So there is a peace, a perfect, whole, sustaining peace, waiting for us. We don’t have
to go get it, accumulate enough stuff to acquire it, or achieve it by any measure. We do
need to make the determined decision to trust in Him, and to be faithful in bringing our
requests to Him, and to gratefully rejoice daily in the peace that is ours.
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