"Peace
I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 NKJV
How
do you greet another person in the course of your daily life? Not just the people you may know, but those
you don’t as well? Do you smile and just
nod your head or do you say something like ”good morning”, or “how are you” as
you pass? Many know that in Israel, or
even among those of Jewish descent who may live elsewhere, the most common form
of greeting is to say “shalom”, which is the Hebrew word for peace. Of course, there are variants of this
greeting but the use of the word shalom certainly implies not only a feeling
towards another, but a reassurance as well.
Jews
may have traditionally greeted one another shalom, but the origins of the use
of that greeting are unclear. Some
rabbi’s have taught that it can be traced back to the greeting the servant of
Joseph used towards his brothers in the Genesis account of their return to Egypt. There we find that Joseph’s brothers were
fearful that they were about to face harm because of the discovery that the
money they had used to pay for the grain they bought in Egypt on their first
visit. In verse 23 of Genesis 43 we find
that the servant of Joseph greets them with the word “shalom”, and tells them
not to be afraid.
But he
said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father
has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon
out to them. Genesis 43:23 NKJV
In
the passage from John we find that Jesus also use the word peace when talking
to His disciples and again, just as in the case of Josephs’ brothers, the
purpose is to reassure and deliver from fear.
Yet Jesus also says something revealing in this passage that I think
bears note, and that is He makes it very clear that there are two kinds of
peace in this world; the peace that comes from God, and the peace the world
tries to offer. To those who choose a
relationship with the risen Lord, it appears that there is a completely
different kind of peace available for our reassurance.
Most
of us understand that the world's definition of peace is the absence of
conflict. Two parties can disagree on anything, for any reason, but as long as
there is no open warfare what you then have is called living in a state of
peace. As I said, however, this is what the world calls peace. As believers
though, shouldn't we should be more interested in what God calls peace instead
of the world? Most would say yes but I think if we take a good look around it
becomes apparent that within the church today, most believers are relying more
on the world's definition of peace rather than on what our Lord had to say.
We
need not look too hard at the history of this world to come to the conclusion
that true peace between men is not only temporary at best, but according to the
Bible, unachievable in a permanent state.
This world is broken, and certainly the world has failed to produce
someone who can fix it. As a father, I
enjoyed being seen by my daughters as the one who could fix anything. Looking back, it would seem that if I had to
define my role as a father, it would be something like a physical and emotional
Mr.Fixit. Whatever it was, Dad could fix
it. Well, most of the time anyway. Just wait until Dad comes home and things
will be put right, and there will be nothing to worry about.
I
doubt I could count the number of times I got a call while at work about a
crisis of some sort, (with three daughters there was always some sort of
crisis) and my answer was always “just wait until I get home and I will take
care of it”. In the passage from John, if you continue to read you find that
Jesus provides an answer to why His peace is different from the peace the world
offers, and why we need not be afraid, and believe it or not, it might sound
familiar.
“You
have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you
loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My
Father is greater than I. “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it
does come to pass, you may believe. John
14:28-29 NKJV
While
the world continually fails to produce any sort of lasting peace, Jesus tells
us we need not be afraid because He is
coming back, and when He does He will fix what is broken and bring about a
peace that passes all understanding.
Bearing that in mind, when you look around at the world today and see
the myriad of problems and conflicts that exist, do you wonder how the world is
going to solve them or do you rest in the knowledge that Jesus has promised to
return and set things right? The peace
that Jesus says He has given us comes from the knowledge that He lives inside
of all who believe, and is coming back to take us home to be with Him forever.
And let
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one
body; and be thankful. Colossians
3:15 NKJV
Notice
the word rule. When I think about that I get the picture of a throne room and a
ruler sitting on the throne. In the believers heart, God should be sitting on
the throne ruling, but when we look around and begin to be fearful of what we
see going on around us, are we really allowing Him to rule? In order to enjoy peace while the world
seemingly tumbles out of control, we must focus on the promises we have from
Him and remind ourselves constantly of His soon return. While that might seem difficult to do, the
prophet Isaiah gives us the following instruction.
You
will keep [him] in perfect peace, [Whose] mind [is] stayed [on You], Because he
trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
Two
points are made in this verse that helps us understand how we might begin to
experience peace in our lives as God intended. The first thing we are told is
that our minds should be “stayed” on Him. The Hebrew word for stayed is camak, which means to lean or rest upon,
the result being we are supported by whatever it is we are leaning on. Now that
might sound simple but in truth exactly how do we do that in a practical sense?
Personally I try to look at it this way; when I made the decision to accept
Christ into my heart, He did in fact come in. Therefore, it is no longer “I” or
“me”, but “us” and “we”.
Think
of it this way; how often in the course of the day do you think of “I” and
“me”? Most of us would have to say all the time. It's always about what I
should do, or how does that affect me, what do I want to do, etc. Truth is, as
believers it's now about the two of us. So to my way of thinking, having my
mind “stayed” upon Him is to always think of us rather than me, and to consider
how Jesus would respond and then adjust my attitude to reflect that. Secondly,
this verse says that the result of having our minds stayed on Him is that we
trust Him. The word translated to trust is batach
which is actually a verb phrase which means to trust, have confidence in,
and as a result be bold in our response.
I’m
not sure that I could honestly say that a day goes by without hearing someone
talking about the state the world is in right now. If not the economy, wars and rumors of wars,
even the price of gas gives rise to questions about what in the world is going
on. Have you ever considered that what
is going on is part of God’s plan in order to give His children a last
opportunity to share the Gospel with an unbelieving world? With all the concern and worry we see from
others, we are given a wonderful chance to share why we can be at peace while
this world spins out of control.
The
next time someone asks you if you are worried about what is happening in the
world today, simply tell them no, because Jesus has promised us He is coming
back to fix this broken world.
Keep
watching.
