Peace

He leads me …

If we were to sit for a while in our local shopping centre and look at the faces of the people going past what would we see? Would we see faces that tell the silent story of a longing for peace, some rest from their worries and fears, or the lifting of some burden or trouble in their lives?  There is so much pressure on people, even though we are blessed with so many material things.

  Sadly it is not possible to have true peace without God in our lives. How can any unsaved sinner expect to have peace when their lives are effectively at war with Almighty God?

  The Bible makes it clear that the only way one can have peace with God is through faith in Jesus Christ. If we have trusted in Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and if we have accepted what Christ did for us on the cross, we can have peace. Why? Because it is promised to us, in Romans 5:1 that, "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." (NLT) We have this right now. Our attitudes of hostility and judgement are gone. When we receive Jesus Christ into our lives, we cease being enemies of God—we make a truce with Him. We come over to His side, and the hostility is ended. The good news of salvation is that which makes a person who was at war with God to be at peace with Him.

  Some Christians have peace with God but know very little about the peace of God, which is the experience of peace. This is the peace that Paul speaks about in Philippians 4:7: "God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus." (TLB) Paul says this is a peace that surpasses understanding. It does not seem realistic that a peace like this could exist amongst all the problems and troubles Christians go through. But this is divine, supernatural peace; it cannot be figured out on a human level.

  Jesus Christ is seen as the One who gives peace. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] 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 afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.] " (AMP) Notice He says "My [perfect] peace." Here is the key that shows that this peace is supernatural - it is Jesus’ own personal peace. It is the same deep, amazing peace that calmed His heart when He was with mockers, haters, murderers, traitors, and whatever other troubles He faced. Remember too that He was able to sleep in the boat while the disciples were facing a huge storm. He had a calm about Him that was unnatural and not human. In the midst of incredible resistance and persecution, Jesus was calm and stable - He was a rock. This is His gift to us.[1]

  We see a wonderful example of the when Jesus appeared before Pilate. He was so calm, so composed, so controlled, and so at peace, and this really disturbed Pilate. In trying to show Jesus that he had authority and control over what was happening Pilate said, "Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?" (John 19:10).

  Then in perfect peace Jesus replied, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above" (John 19:11). That's the kind of peace Jesus had. That is the kind of peace that He gives to us. It is focussed, fearlessness and has complete trust in our Lord.

  This is the kind of peace people really want: They want a peace that deals with the poison of past sins that continue to trouble them. They also want a peace that controls the present, with no unsatisfied desires pestering their hearts. And they want a peace that holds assurance for the future, where no sinister fear of the unknown and dark tomorrow threatens them. And that is exactly the peace through which the guilt of the past is forgiven; by which the trials of the present are overcome; and in which our destiny in the future is secured eternally.

Let us understand that both the future and the past are in God hands. He has forgiven the past and He promises to supply our future needs (not our wants). This means that we do not have to worry about yesterday or tomorrow. Jesus said, "Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34). We should just focus on trusting God for today's needs.

God’s peace has another advantage too. If we have a problem or a decision to make, we can let the peace of Christ help us make that decision. Any action should be taken in the light of God's Word, but sometimes we look for some confirmation. This comes in the form of the peace of Christ in our heart. If we have this then we can progress with the confidence that what we are doing is God's will. However, we find that we do not have any sense of peace, this is God’s caution not to go ahead and do it.

There is no point in trying to justify our decision; even if it seems to make good sense. Can we be confident that we have God’s blessing? If we do not have His peace, then it is probably the wrong thing to do. So we let Christ's peace be the umpire that makes the call. That is how we handle our decisions.

Finally we should look at Colossians 3:15. Here Paul says that peace belongs to every Christian. He calls it "the peace of Christ...to which indeed you were called in one body." Our peace with God and the peace of God that rules our hearts is a foundation of Christian unity because it is the same experience for all believers. If we disregard that peace, if we refuse to let it be the umpire, we cannot have unity in the body of Christ, for everyone will be doing what they want to do, and the body will be divided. “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”  2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV).

Church fights hurt the cause of Christ. To that end the Bible says, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” — Romans 14:19 (NIV).

To have that supernatural peace available puts us under obligation to lean on it. Colossians 3:15 is not a command to seek peace, but rather a plea to let the Lord's peace work in us: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." You have this peace, now let it rule.

In the midst of a society in which we are constantly bombarded with advertising and other worldly pressures designed to get us to focus on our needs and problems, how can we keep our minds focused on Christ? By studying the Word of God and being taught by the Holy Spirit and permitting Him to fix our hearts on the person of Jesus Christ.[2]

[1] Can We Have Peace in Our Time? By John F. Walvoord, Bible.org; https://bible.org/seriespage/11-can-we-have-peace-our-time

[2] The Gift of Peace by John MacArthur, Grace to You; https://www.gty.org/library/articles/P21/the-gift-of-peace