The opening line of a song from the movie, Urban Cowboy, says, ‘looking for love in all the wrong places….’, It describes the journey so many in the Kingdom experience!
So many are looking for love that brings peace, a love that brings security, wholeness, and tranquility.
Jesus speaking to His disciples just before the crisis of the Cross, assured them in John 14:27, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.‘ There is the promise of a peace that surpasses all understanding.
Yet, Jesus says in Matthew 10:34, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword”.
As the Native American would say, ‘He speaks with a forked tongue’. Yet we know our Lord had no deceit in Him.
How many are struggling in the Kingdom of God because they lack the peace that they felt they were promised?
How many have given up the faith after hearing a sermon on peace, only to have it evade them?
To properly obtain love that produces this peace, we must first establish the goal of true peace. His peace must be understood. In the text of Matthew 10, He promises that we are worth more than a sparrow…. a sparrow that falls. As if that brings us peace, yet, in the truest context of this promise, ‘the sparrow falls’. This is not a promise that conflict, trouble and even death will NOT happen but that He notices when one falls into times where it seems everything that can go wrong does.
In 1 Peter 3:17 the Word assures us there are times it is totally the will of God for us to suffer. The burden of this article is not on suffering, so we will not go into the depth of the Suffering of Believers, only to say, it happens and the promise if we stay true, there is a conquer’s reward.
Standing in Beit Guvrin on the floor of a Roman coliseum, looking at the dirt that contained innocent blood of good, faithful men and women my heart was moved. A place where Christians had been torn apart by wild, hungry beast because they were Christians, just for the sport of it. I stood thinking of our current religious culture that suggest we live prosperous lives that contains peace, where would we be if that was God’s will for us?
I remember going to Sderot, lying next to the Gaza Strip in 2011 with 30 motorcycles and a bus with 44 people that had trusted that I would bring them to Israel, have a great ride, feel good about honoring the IDF and get them home safely. The concern of a rocket, a bomb, death began to seize my thoughts.
Then my thoughts turned to something lived out in front of the world when the missionaries who gave all they had to buy a yacht and travel to places the Word of God had not been shared was taken captive and killed by bandits off the coast of Africa a few months before. The Holy Spirit was trying to reveal to us that our mission is not about ‘peace and longevity’ but purpose here on earth. Every major source of news told the story of their commitment to spreading the Gospel, hence, their dying shared the Gospel with millions where their life would have only touched maybe hundreds.
Looking up to heaven while riding in front of the pack, my heart cried out, ‘Lord if you can get more glory in our dying than our living, let it be so’….. then came peace.
So what is this peace that we can obtain in Him and this short journey called life?
First and foremost there is an inner peace that comes from our freedom from the bondage and guilt of sin(s) in our life. Oh, the memories are there but as we walk in relationship with the Master, healing comes and we learn to not let past mistakes paralyze us, keep us awake at night or hinder our ability to walk into the presence of our Master.
Then there is the eternal peace, peace that promises we will not die without a hope for tomorrow. A peace that says, ‘I go to prepare a place for you and where I am there you may be also’. It has amazed me the number of times the ‘lights come on’ in people’s eyes when they hear, ‘heaven is not punishment, it is a reward to die and go into that eternal place of peace and love.’ We sing, we preach, we testify that to die is gain but to live is Christ, but too many times we have fallen in love with this world and resist the very idea of the divine glory that awaits us.
Oh the joy of relational peace with man, both saint and sinner. When conflicts arise, the ability to see differently, to not hold grudges and the ability to forgive. The peace that comes when one who has betrayed, assaulted or hurt us as individuals in anyway, is released in my obedience of forgiveness. Then we experience a flood of peace that says, ‘you are forgiven also’.
Then comes the ability to see where ‘not to look for this love that brings peace’:
For the believer there is the promise to never have complete peace while on this earth with the world, for it will always contain it cares, it’s hurts and disappointments. There will always be problems, burdens and pains, therefore, a sober minded believer does not ‘look for peace’ here in the natural realm. There is no perpetual vacation spot where we can escape the hurts and disappointments.
Never should a believer look for peace with the systems of the world, for there will always be the ‘lure of nice things’. It is crazy to think that you will ever be totally free from the things that entice the eye. Eve, in a perfect relationship with the Father, in a perfect place, the Garden, still had the enticement of the eye, draw her into sin.
Finally, we should recognize the inner battle of pride will always be warring in our souls. The conflict with pride is one of the main tools of confusion that leads to failure in our lives. It does not matter your lot in life, pride is an enemy. It was amazing to walk among the homeless, nothing but the shirt on their back and to witness the pride they carry. Once when giving free haircuts, one man sit down with dirty, matted hair and was cautious that his hair would not be ‘messed up’.
So, where does that leave us?
Recognize that peace comes only when we know the Master’s voice. The promise is “the Lord is my Shepherd”, He finds places of peace and tranquility for me by still waters, He restores my soul in green valleys, that is a promise that you can ‘take to the bank’.
However, many have left bad situations, funeral services where good meaning ministers / church leaders have promised peace without the condition. All of the promises of the Word are conditional…. To have this peace, John 10 says, “My sheep know my voice”. When you intimately know the voice of our Master, there is a great flow of His peace into our lives.
When broken-hearted, His voice comes and soothes you.
When you are in despair and have gone as far as you can, like a good Shepherd, He will come and rub your legs until you can walk again. To explain shortly, a sheep can get overweight or get in a low spot and roll on it’s back and not get up again. The legs ‘go to sleep’ and are numb. A good Shepherd will stand the sheep back on it’s feet and rub the legs until the blood gets to flowing again and feeling comes back.
When the parasites from the ‘evil world’ comes and begins to ‘drive you out of your mind’, He will come and pour the anointing oil over your head… driving away the enemies and bring you peace.
When the enemies of this world seem to overtake you, look for a banquet…. He has a table set in their presence. Sit down, relax and eat from His manna.
Our journey at times drives us to the valley of the ‘shadow of death’, Relax, He will assure you of His presence, bringing a peace that only His Holy Spirit can bring to you.
When we are at the end of this life, there is a peace that overtakes the believer, they are ready for the transition from this life to the next. They know they have fulfilled their task and they feel His presence as they transition from this world of sin, war and pain to a place where there will be no more weeping, no sickness and no pain, A WORLD OF LIGHT AND LIFE —COMPLETE PEACE.
