Where Peace Begins

Life on this planet has been anything but peaceful our last few years. Individuals, societies, nations have been through the wringer. Chaos and loss, stress and pain, are the order of the day. And we begin to wonder if we can even find where peace begins.

Life Is Like An Ocean

When I was young, our family’s annual vacation was at the beach. Dad loved playing in the waves and taught us to love it as well. You could find him with his five children, and later his grandchildren, jumping the waves or diving into them if the wave was too high.

When Dad could no longer play in the ocean with us, we adults still loved to play. “Wave!” someone would shout. And we’d all jump, spluttering salt water, laughing with delight as we swam and played together.

Once in awhile, I’d tire of looking for the next wave. I was further out to sea than my siblings and would turn towards them with my back to the horizon. Suddenly, I would hear the cry, “Wave!”, and I quickly ducked, thankful for the warning.

But once in awhile, as I arose from that dunking, with salt water dripping from my chin, I was caught off guard again. Turning towards the horizon so I wouldn’t miss the next wave to come, I was smacked in the face by a second wave barreling in immediately on the hills of the first.

Shocked and unprepared, I was taken under water as the wave crashed over me. My need to breathe was real. The pounding of water against my body pulled me down.

Jesus Is Our Peace

Life the last few years has seemed like a stormy sea for many of us. One wave after another has assaulted us, and we can barely find strength to carry on. We try to get our legs under us from one tragedy or difficulty only to find another one hitting us hard before we can stand.

Where do we go to find peace? How can we keep going in joy, and hope of future gladness?

Jesus, the Son of the living God, is our peace in the midst of life’s pounding waves. In John 14:27, we read His words. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Like a raft floating over the waves in the ocean, Jesus offers Himself as the place where peace begins. He came to earth to die for us, to bridge the gap between us and our Creator, establishing our eternal peace with our Maker.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 2:13-18

God created a beautiful world and placed us in it. But our rebellion against Him as King led to the world being far less than peaceful. Until Jesus comes again to reign in righteousness and truth, we will find this world full of trouble. And our acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord doesn’t change this fact. Jesus told us to expect troubles in this life. But then He added the most wonderful words we could hear.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

Trust The King Of Peace

Our lives on this planet are like a puff of wind, here and then gone. We are in the waiting room of eternity, being prepared for life forever with the Father. If we refuse Him, we sadly are choosing death, forever separated from the One Who alone is life and peace and joy.

God has provided peace with Him by sending Jesus to pay the penalty of death and separation we should’ve paid. That’s where our peace truly begins. When we accept Jesus as our Redeemer and Savior, our eternal peace begins.

Once peace with the Father has been established for each of us by trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord, we find our day to day peace by trusting God to provide everything else we could ever need. Jesus said to seek God’s kingdom first and all else would come (Matthew 6:33). If our Father has already given us entrance to His kingdom, what won’t He give us that we need?

Fear is a tactic of the enemy, a method to keep us from resting in the peace of the Father. But God tells us to pray and not worry. God promises His peace will keep our hearts and minds if we trust Him.

It’s most likely that the chaos in our world will not improve. Jesus Himself told us to expect wars and rumors of wars before He comes. He told us the world is full of tribulation, and He never promised peace on earth before He returns.

But Jesus does promise Himself. He told us He would never leave us or forsake us (Matthew 28:20). And it’s in our Father’s love and in the heart of our Savior and Lord we find where peace begins.

(Scripture: KJV, Photos: Taken by Carolyn Thigpen, May, 2016, Israel)