Genuine Peace
“So what is genuine, God-given peace, and how do we find it?”
Peace. Peace was the last thing Brian and I felt nearly twenty years ago when, just days before Christmas, we found out our household goods were lost due to a fire while in transit. The stores were crowded with last-minute holiday shoppers, and our carts were overflowing with what felt like everything…except it was mostly for ourselves. The peaceful homecoming we had anticipated to be a little closer to family was tarnished with feelings of anxiety and being unsettled.
What we both needed in the midst of the chaos we were experiencing was God’s genuine peace. So what is genuine, God-given peace, and how do we find it?
A short time before his death, Jesus Christ is preparing his disciples and gives the promise that he will send the Holy Spirit to those who repent and trust in Him for salvation. Jesus offers many words of comfort, including these words about peace found in John 14:27 (ESV): “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
When Jesus says that He does not give “as the world gives,” what does that mean?
We live in a world that does not understand genuine peace. The so-called “peace” of this world is a temporary, imperfect, and incomplete peace. Governments and world leaders promise peace, and yet wars persist. Community leaders strive to bring peace in our neighborhoods, but crime sneaks in anyway. Despite our best efforts, turmoil is always bubbling beneath the surface.
However, as Christmas approaches, we may find ourselves surrounded with messages and imagery of peace – and a reminder of the hope we have for the peace that Jesus offers. Oftentimes, greeting cards or wrapping paper will portray a white dove, an olive branch, or perhaps a still, starry, night sky accompanying a nativity scene. Christmas hymns that we hear and sing include phrases such as “Peace on Earth,” or “Silent Night.”
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah gave us a glimpse into the perfect peace that Jesus the Messiah would bring in Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV): “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
Notice some of the words used: “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” and “Everlasting Father.” Those all point to attributes of Jesus. In addition, Jesus Christ is prophesied as being the Prince of Peace….whose peace, and the peace of his reign, cannot be disrupted and will last for an eternity!
Those of us who have found salvation in Jesus Christ are called to set our minds on the things of the Holy Spirit, as found in Romans 8:6 (ESV): “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Peace here is associated with life - and not just any life - those who are saved look forward to an eternal life (Romans 6:23) - an eternal peace!
So how do we answer the age-old question about finding genuine peace in a world filled with chaos? The peace of Jesus Christ is a peace that supersedes whatever personal turmoil we may be facing, and overcomes the chaos of this world. The peace Jesus gives points us toward an eternal peace, the peace and rest we find in the hope of our salvation.
- written by Amber Harvey
Amber serves alongside her husband Brian as Deacons of Hospitality at Redeemer Church. Amber and Brian have been married for twenty years, and enjoy traveling and finding new ways to volunteer within their community.