Peace, Reality or Ruse

"I will listen to what the LORD will say; surely the LORD will declare peace to His people, His godly ones, and not let them go back to their foolish ways." Psalm 85:8


I wonder how far off from the right definition of peace my definition is. When I think of peace I think mainly of quietness and the lack of troubles, more a state of mind. However, when I look at the Biblical definition I can't help notice that peace, true peace, encompasses much more than just a current state of mind. The Biblical definition of peace, in this case the Hebrew word "salom", is more a gift imparted than a condition achieved. Biblical peace is a gift from God that actually comes with His presence, while the peace I am accustomed to is a temporary achievement, reached only by effort. I can have a sense of peace, in an odd kind of way, after I have just sweated my brains out on a steamy, summer afternoon, mowing the yard. When I am finished I can sit back and see well groomed grass, with wheel tracks and impressions left by the mower all lined up just the way I like them. I can then sit on my deck with a cold drink and enjoy a kind of peace. However, this peace is like the ice cubes in my glass - temporary. Temporary because I know in a few more days I am going to have to go through this whole lawn worshipping ritual again. The peace of God though, the salom referred to in this verse, covers the entire spectrum of our human expereince. God's peace simply is not limited to a state of mind, if it were it would have to get in line and compete with all other offers of temporary peace in this world. But God's peace is in a class by itself since it alone is an eternal and provided peace, peace from an outside source (GOD), not an internal one (me).

"Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" provides the following words to help us, in the west, get a better grib on what the original Hebrew word for peace, salom, means. "peace", "safety", "prospersity", "well-being", "wholeness", also peace can have a focus of security, safety which can bring feelings of security, well-being and contenment.

It was not by accident that the writer of this Psalm connected peace to what God says. "I will listen to what the LORD will say; surely the LORD will declare peace to His people." Notice there is a direct connection between listening to what God says and walking the peace God provides. It is by His words that He declares peace (salom) to His godly ones. Neither is it coincidential that the Bible reveals Jesus as God's Word made flesh, or that one of Jesus' kingly titles is: The Prince of Peace, or that the day Christ was born, God Incarnate, that the shepherds heard the angels giving this announcement; "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to all people He favors." Luke 2:14. Clearly the peace the angels spoke of was not a thing achieved, but the gift bestowed, something from the heavenly's and not of the earth. How then does the gift of salom come to us? By God's favor. And how do we receive this favor? It comes when we embrace The Prince of Peace, the Word of God made flesh. Now I'll granted you that learning to walk in the peace provided may be another issue, but learning to walk does not negate the God-given gift of walking.
The Bible tells us: "YOU (GOD)will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependant on YOU (GOD), for it is trusting You." Ish 26:3. This perfect peace is actually the joining together of two words to drive the point home - perfect peace is salom, salom. The peace provided by God is one that only He has, so it can only come from Him, and it is peace that He has provided already to anyone who will embrace it. The Prince of Peace, the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ, stands ready to be received by anyone, in any condition.     

At this point I can't hep but think of the time when the disciples of Christ found themselves rowing for their lives in the middle of a storm that appears to be like nothing they had faced before. The only thing more bizarre than this sudden and furocious storm was the fact the Jesus was sleeping through the whole thing. The disciples were throwing up while their Master was laying down. They were battling horrific, life-threatening elements, while Jesus was curled up on a canvas bag counting happy little, leaping lambs. How is it possible to have that level of peace in the midst of that level of storm? When they finally roused Him, and accused Him of not caring about them, He stood up, stretched, challenged them about their level of trust in Him, then turned to the storm and told it to shut-up and lay down, which it promptly did. He then went back to bed, leaving some very seasoned fishermen standing there, eyes and mouths wide open, ankle deep in sea water, soaked to the bone, blinkless and speechless.

Is such peace possible? Is there such a peace that passes our understanding, our capacities to reason through, that leapfrogs right over our minds, settling deep in our hearts? Well...is there? What if this peace, the peace of God is not a what but a Who, not a thing, but a Person? This is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions or belief systems, where the rubber meets the road. Through His Son, God promised and provided everything we need simply because He loves us, simply through child-like faith. All other faith systems hold out only concepts of what they promise since they are powerless to deliver the reality of what they preach. You can't deliver what you don't have. Incarnation based religions make you pay and pay, earn and earn, until finally, maybe, some day, in some other life, you get what is held out - NOT! Where is the peace in that? Other systems tell us we are just part of the cosmos, and will some day die and become part of the cosmos, the Great Consciousness, again, again - NOT! We live, we die and that's all there is. In this faith model our lives have no meaning or purpose, and life without either can't provide the peace we were built for and that our hearts yearn for. There are yet other belief systems that are no more than power hungry regimes, masquerading as faith based religions. These worldview in reality are nothing more, but nothing less, than cruel demon-driven hordes, bent on killing and conquering, while advancing a devilish agenda of world domination through intimidation, and when convenient to the cause - death.  Contrast all these against the promise of the peace of God, as millions of people who accept God's offer and place their lives in the care of Jesus Christ, daily experience its reality.

God loves us, and He alone He has both the reality of His promises and the power to deliver the reality of the words He has spoken. "For God so loved the world He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."  John 3:16  "He who has the Son has life, He who does not have the Son, does not have life."  I John 5:12

Jesus said "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves."  Matthew 11:28-29