It has been said that there is no price tag that one can place on peace of mind. People nowadays try all kinds of ways to build peace. They build financial security, create action plans to remove stressors, avoid conflict and stay free from danger. Yet no matter how hard we try, trouble always seems to find our way to us.
Jesus is called the Prince of Peace, but we look around us and we may often feel like there is no peace for Jesus to reign over. The troubles that surround us, the chaos that is in this world and the pain and suffering that thrives in people. Where is the peace in all of this?
God promises in His Word numerous times how He intends to bring peace to this world, but the peace He desires for us sometimes isn't the kind of peace we are looking for. Many people want to see a complete absence of trials, but that's not the way that God brings peace. God works in the heart that it may receive peace no matter the circumstance.
Peace is not a feeling
Peace is not an emotion and neither is it a gut feeling. We can have peace in gladness and even in mourning because the peace of God is not dependent upon our emotions and feelings. God brings forth peace as a manifestation of His indwelling in us. That's why so many people who live apart from Christ do not have peace, because true peace only comes by knowing Him.
John 16:33 says, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." Even in the midst of bad news and the despair it brings, we can receive peace.
Peace is a gift of God
Peace is not something we work for. When we try our whole lives to build our own sphere of peace, we will always fall short. That is because peace is nothing more than a gift of God's grace. We do not earn peace, but God gives peace anyways. That is because He is gracious and loving and desires for us to experience the fullness of His grace.
Psalm 85:8 tells us, "Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly." Peace comes from God and He is willing to give it to whoever asks.
Peace is a choice
Isaiah 26:1 reminds us, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." It is and will always be our choice whether to keep our minds stayed on God.
God is loving, but He is also fair. He wants to give us the option of coming to Him for peace or rejecting His free gift of peace. Peace is already there and peace has already been won when Jesus died on the cross, but many people still choose to live as if they're losing the war.
Peace is not a feeling or an emotion. It is God's gift to us, but it is up to us whether we want to accept His free gift of peace or continue to try to find our own way of fighting for peace.
