Perfect peace is what the prophet Isaiah called it. Peace that passeth all understanding is how the Apostle Paul described it. Peace that Jesus promised to leave His disciples when He said in the Upper Room just before His mock trial and crucifixion: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you…Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Peace, as the world knows it, is so elusive. “A world of happiness, an ocean of peace,” was the byword in Hawaii just before the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941. Peace treaties and peace pacts have been signed decade after decade, yet the world is “on fire” today. “Peace, peace,” they say, even when there is no peace. (Jer. 6:14)
Abiding peace begins with a relationship with Jesus Christ. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)
This peace of God, Paul says, “shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7)
“The peace of the believer is deep, calm, lasting and everlasting. The world with all its blandishments, cannot give it. The world with all its fluctuations…cannot take it away.” (copied from an 1854 devotional book by an anonymous author, The Words of Jesus)
Men, nations, and civilizations have longed for it and sought after it. A Chinese proverb illustrates this fact: “If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty of character; if there is beauty of character, there will be harmony in the home; if there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation; if there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.”
Yes, IF there is righteousness in the heart! But that only comes as individuals—one by one—trust and accept God’s terms of peace: accepting the Prince of Peace, God’s Son, as Savior. That will only happen universally when Jesus comes back to establish His righteous rule and reign of a thousand years, the millennium, upon this earth. Paul alludes to this when he affirms that “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” (Romans 16:20)
A little girl on a plane was tossed to and fro during a period of in-flight turbulence. She was later asked how she could be so calm, noting that she never looked up from the book she was reading. Her reply was, “My Daddy is the pilot, and he is taking me home.” So, with each believer in today’s turbulent world. The winds howl, the storms sweep, the dark clouds thicken, but we can remain secure in His protective grace with a peace much like that of an old English grandmother during a World War 2 German blitz:
“After the German planes had left the British Isles, the citizenry began to search among the ruins for the dead, the dying and the missing. There was an old grandmother they could not account for. Then, someone found her sound asleep in her little bedroom. ‘Grandma, how could you sleep with all that was going on?’ one asked. The reply was both instant and firm: ‘It says in the Bible, He that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep, so I figured there was no need for both of us to stay awake.’”
A contest was held in which artists were invited to paint a picture of perfect peace. The judges narrowed the number of competitors down to two men who had beautifully portrayed this concept on canvas. The first painted a scene of a still, lone lake high in the mountains. The second depicted a thundering waterfall with the branch of a birch tree bending over the foam. On the fork of that limb, wet with spray, a robin sat undisturbed on her nest. The first spoke of tranquility, but the second won the prize. It showed in dramatic detail that absolute calmness can be found in the midst of turbulent surroundings. Yes, it is easy to remain unruffled when everything is quiet and serene. But to rest while the storm is raging—that is perfect peace. (Our Daily Bread, Summer 1977)
Hurricanes can wreak havoc and leave lands in total chaos. Yet, a mere ten yards below the surface of the sea, there may be complete calm. Fish and other marine creatures swim and go about their business, oblivious to the tumult a few feet above them. So it is with our lives. When there is no depth, there is chaos in the storms of life; but when there is depth in our faith and trust in His promises and protection, there can be perfect peace.
“There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God. There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God, A place where we our Savior meet, near to the heart of God. There is a place of full release, near to the heart of God, a place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God.” (Hymn by Cleland B. McAfee)
I hope you, my friend, have found your place there.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” (Isa.26:3)
YOU and GOD 