God’s Peace

Galatians 5:22  The fruit of the Spirit is…peace

We all want peace – peace of mind, a peaceful life, a life farthest from worry, anxiety.  A dictionary defines peace as  “The absence of mental stress or anxiety”.  Now that’s peace!

The Greek word used in Galatians 5:22 simply means “peace”, but also implies “prosperity”.  When you think of it, when a person is prosperous he is at peace.  There is no stress or anxiety, for he knows that his prosperity will take care of things for him.  Now that’s the peace of this world.   You know what the peace of God is?  Take away the prosperity, abundance, material things, etc. – and still enjoy no stress or anxiety – that’s the peace of God!  It’s a peace that is not dependent on what we have, or on what is happening around us.  It’s a peace from God.  It’s a peace of God.  It’s knowing God is there.

John 14:27 (NIV)
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

The peace that God has for us is a peace that is totally different from the world!  And this is the peace that our Lord wants us to have.

After Jesus had told His disciples that He was going to be crucified, He told them He would leave them peace.  But how could they have peace when their Lord was about to be captured and put to death?  Many of us may ask a similar question – how can we have peace when there are so many problems, hardships or trials that we face everyday?  If Jesus left us peace, why can’t I feel it?

Jesus continued and said - “MY PEACE I give you”.  The Lord wasn’t leaving His disciples just any ordinary worldly kind of peace.  It was His peace He was leaving us!  What is God’s peace?  Think about it – does God panic?  Is there anything too difficult for the Lord?  NO!  This is why He is the God of Peace, and it is His peace He gives us.

That’s why He also said “I do not give to you as the world gives”.

How does the world give us peace?  Through circumstances.  When we have what we want, when things go our way, when we are farthest from trouble, hardship in life…when everything is going our way – then we have peace.  Many Christians mistakenly ask God to give them peace the way the world gives peace!  We ask God to take away the problems, to give us things that will give peace to our hearts.  But this is not how, or what, God wants us to be asking for.  He wants us to ask for His Peace.

That peace is found IN HIM.  Not in His answers to our prayers.  Not in HIs miracles.  Not in His solutions.  Peace is found in Him.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Oh for the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds!  That’s what we need.  But notice that the passage does not say anything about God answering our prayer, and that answer will give us peace.  All it says is “present your requests to God”.  Many of us still pray “Lord, if you will just give me this, or give me that, I will have peace”.  But all God asks is that in everything we present our requests to Him.

To present our requests to God we come into His presence.  And when we come into His presence, knowing He is right there, assuring us that He is in control, filling our hearts with His promises…this is what gives us peace.  And even if it takes days, months even years for the prayer to be answered, we will still be at peace!  For we know that He is holding our lives, and that He is there for us to trust in.  Even if our prayers are never answered, our hearts will be at peace – in Him, in knowing that our lives are in His hands, and that He knows what is best.

That’s peace.  That’s the peace of God, His peace, a peace we have from being with Him, knowing Him.

2 Peter 1:2 (NIV)
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

We have abundant peace through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  The more we know Him, the more at peace we will be in our life.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.