Peace

This is not all that revolutionary, but boy has it been bugging me for a bit. I was supposed to be going to bed early, but I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about posting this blog. I guess I'm supposed to write it now, then. (I promise to get more controversial in later posts as we get going here!--lol)

There's been a bunch of people, including me, struggling with all sorts of issues lately. I guess that's nothing new, but for me things have been tough. Then I came across one of my Dad's old sermon outlines. It was about peace. Wow. I couldn't imagine how timely that was. I think God meant for me to find that. It's funny how things can take on a new meaning when they all of a sudden apply more to your life... (insert grin of irony here). Anyway, I'm going to try to piece the basic idea of this together for you, between the outline and some of my illegible notes from years ago. For brevity's sake, I'm not typing out all the scriptures, but let me encourage you to go along and look all these up, as you are reading this, not after. The journey is just as important as the destination. I hope it helps!


Prince of Peace (via Wayne Turner sermon outline)

1. The Promise of Peace

The Bible has a bunch of scriptures that talk about the promise of peace. Not that the promise of peace is the only theme in the Bible, or that God wrote a promise of peace into a third stone tablet, but there are plenty of places that talk about the peace we have in Him, or that He will "guide our feet into the path of peace." There's all sorts, read through these few, there are plenty others, but these will give you the idea:

Luke 1:79; 2:14; Isaiah 11:6; John 14:27; 16:33

2. The Paradox of Peace

What exactly is peace? Some definitions include: state of mental/physical quiet or tranquility, calm; the absence or cessation of war; public order; state of reconciliation after conflict; and freedom from mental anxiety. Is this what God is promising? Nope. Read all Matthew 10:34-36. Those verses actually indicate that the Gospel can bring unrest and conflict. Read what Paul had gone through in 2 Corinthians 2:12-13 and 11:23b-29. Beatings, jail, stonings, poverty, all that good stuff. So how do you have peace in the face of trouble, worry hardship and persecution? Contrary to popular thought, real peace is not the absence of difficult.


3. Real Peace

So what is peace, then? Real peace comes through God. You may have heard various quotes from the Bible, "the God of Peace," or "peace of God." The message or Gospel can also be known as the "way of peace." Real peace can come through adversity. Hebrews 12:11 talks about how struggle can produce a harvest of righteousness and peace.

So how do we find it? Peace begins with our relationship with God. His forgiveness, and our faith and trust in Him. We are "at peace" with God. Peace exists in us, in our hearts, minds, and in our lives. It is a "fruit of the Spirit." It shows and gives us strength in difficult times.

Real peace extends to those around us. We are called to be peacemakers. There are other passages that indicate that we should "live at peace with one another" Hebrews 12:14; 'keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" Ephesians 4:3.



So back to just Mike thinking again... that's a lot of stuff to digest. What I get out of it though, has lifted some of the weight from my shoulders. I'll have to keep working on it every day but I'll get there. I realized that many of us expect God to be our butler, nurse and magic genie. I do believe that God intervenes directly in our lives, but what about those times when we are beaten down, suffering, and God doesn't seem to be doing anything about our predicament? He IS!! That's the awesome part. The problem is, we just don't see it, because He's not doing what we expect Him to. What the verses above are saying is that God never promised us that we would all live lives free of hardship, conflict, and struggle. What they DO indicate is that God has something better that will get us through.

I get this hilarious image in my head of a small klutzy child (I was definitely one). However, Mom and Dad can't bear to see their child get hurt, so they surround the kid with foam, styrofoam peanuts and packing tape (or the "Bubble Boy" now that I think of it). But, the kid never learns how to be independent, and never experiences anything good either. That's the situation in God's relationship to us--if He were to always step in, to keep all of us worry and trouble free He'd have to control everything and everyone. Not that He couldn't, but we'd lose all free will in the process. So what instead?

God has shown us what real peace is--We're never alone; He will always love us, even when noone does; If we die, we have somewhere we go, so this is not the end; money is not the important part of life--in Heaven, it is worthless; No matter what we've done, He will forgive us; I could go on. Once we accept real peace into our lives, it will spread. We've all heard the stories about someone wanting to know what so-and-so had that no-one else did, because they were different. That's real peace showing. I'm longing to get there myself, I don't know if my own life is there yet, but it's something I'm working on... hope it helps someone else, too!