Peace That Never Wanes

“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.” (Joh 14:27 AV)

 

There are two kinds of peace.  There is the peace that the world gives.  Then there is the peace that Jesus gives.  The world can give peace in many ways.  The songs of a bird, the sound of a running brook, or a crackling fire in the evening can all bring a sense of peace.  Good music can bring peace.  Friendships can bring peace.  All of these things, however, can be disrupted.  The birds seem to stop their singing if there is a hawk or eagle in the air.  A running brook becomes less peaceful with a swarm of mosquitoes.  A slight shift of the wind and the one enjoying a campfire is scrambling for fresh air.  Good music must eventually end.  And, friendships can run sour at the unfortunate falling away which some do.  But the peace that comes from Jesus is permanent.  This peace is founded in faith.  As long as we have faith in the person of Jesus Christ, then our peace remains.

Now, be kind.  I am not a drug addict.  Don’t be a hater.  Just let me explain and you’ll see where I am going with this.  As someone of my age is required to do every so often, I had a colonoscopy about five years back.  There is a lot of anxiety the first time one goes through this test.  It is not something one looks forward to.  As someone who prides their modesty, a colonoscopy is the absence of all modesty.  I mentioned this to my mother and she put me at ease.  She said the worst part of the colonoscopy is the preparatory period just before it.  And she was absolutely right.  When the day came, they had me prepare and dress accordingly.  Then I was wheeled into the exam room and the anesthesiologist hooked up the IV.  I have had surgery twice before.  They put me under by breathing in the drug.  But this was different.  The drug was administered by IV.  Now, this is where you need to show some grace!  I had never felt something like this before.  As the doctor was introducing the drug into the IV, he spoke to me about what I would experience.  It happened so quickly, I don’t think I heard all of it.  A wave of sleep washed over me like a tidal wave.  I felt awesome!  In less than ten seconds, I was out.  But the feeling that washed over me was something I wish I could experience every time I lay down to sleep.  What a miracle.  The peace that washed over me was like nothing else.  However, one of the side effects was a headache.  After waking up, I had a doozy.  It lasted all day and there wasn’t any pill known to man that could take it away.  That peace was wonderful; while I had it.  However, when the temporary peace wore off, there were consequences.

When we trust the LORD for our soul, He gives us peace that can never be taken away.  In fact, this same gospel records words of our LORD that intimate the only way we lose our joy is if we give it away.  If our hearts are troubled, or we fear, it is not because of our circumstances.  Circumstances are never unique to only us.  Countless other human beings have, or will, experience similar circumstances in life.  If we fear or are troubled, our problem is faith and relationship.  We fail to trust the LORD for our life as much as we trusted Him for our soul.  Or, we simply have wandered too far away for His presence to bring us that peace.  The wors above are no lie.  Jesus did not say them just to make us feel better.  He said them because they are the truth.  Our LORD has given us peace that can never be taken away.  If we are troubled or afraid it is all on us.