Good News about God: The Lord our Peace

Ephesians 2:14 "Christ Himself is our peace..."

We are created to live in peace; those of us who are united with God in Christ Jesus enjoy peace with God our Creator and Father Who has fully accepted us in His Son. There is no more enmity between God and us because of faith in Jesus' blood.

However, walking in fullness of peace is more than simply the removal of enmity between God and me; it is increasing oneness with the Prince of peace Himself, Jesus. Because of unrenewed thinking and areas of unknown or unresolved sin and woundedness that we bring into our union with God, it's not unusual that we experience lack of peace (fear) in our walk. Because we are made for peace, we automatically search for inner peace at whatever cost when our insides are churning. We all find temporary rest and peace through taking things into our own hands (control); this plays out in countless ways, such as busyness or running to humans or through spending or eating, or shutting down the heart and emotions, etc. Our desperation for inner peace is such that many times we will go for the quick fix even though it's a very short-lived peace which leaves us in more fear.

The good news about God is that the Lord Jesus Himself is our peace. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus that He was the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6), and the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul calls God the "God of all peace" (Rom. 15:33; 16:20).

If peace is primarily about a Person, there are a couple of implications to this:
1) Jesus' presence within me by His Spirit means that I don't need to strain to get something (Peace) that I already have.
2) Lack of inner peace suggests that there are areas within me where Jesus' presence is not yet in control; His life hasn't yet permeated my whole being.
3) The way to increasing and uninterrupted peace within is continual growth in knowing the God of peace intimately, His life gaining more and more control in me and my life letting go of control.

Just this morning, three situations hit my "radar" all at once, all of them involving people close to me. My mind wanted to race around looking for immediate action to alleviate the feelings of fear that hit my heart; but I knew I had to get perspective from Jesus (my Peace) before I could hope to move and act out of faith. He gave me grace to wait and worship and cling to Him. As I waited in worship, I imagined myself grasping Him tightly and Him holding me in His strong arms. In His tight embrace, the strength of His peace-filled life came into me, empowering me to be still even though the emotions didn't disappear immediately. (By the way, the fact that our emotions take time to quiet down doesn't mean we aren't trusting...HE is our peace and our simple clinging tightly to Him, rather than running off to act independently of Him, is trust.)

Some ways to draw near to Jesus our Peace:
1) Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware when you are headed into the "taking control" mode and then ask Him to help you cling to Jesus instead (this is what it means to abide in Him).
2) Worship the Lord with all your heart, no matter what your emotions may be like; use the Word of God to worship and pray; practice imaginative prayer such as I shared above in my experience.
3) Obey Jesus; whatever you understand Him to say to you, do it as best you can, knowing that He isn't a perfectionist but a tender Lord who takes our weak effort and multiplies it for His glory.

Scriptures for meditation:
Luke 24:36; John 14:27; John 16:33; John 20:19; John 20:21; John 20:26; Acts 10:36; Romans 15:13; Romans 15:33; Romans 16:20; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 2:14-15; Phil. 4:6,7; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thess. 3:16; Hebrews 13:20-21; 2 Peter 1:2.