Peace

There are many sayings and quotes about peace, for instance: “Peace is beautiful.” Walt Whitman.  “Peace begins with a smile.” Mother Teresa and “It isn’t enough to talk about peace, one must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it, one must work at it.” Eleanor Roosevelt. 

In today’s world peace is hard to find.  Often, our jobs are stressful and, in our world, we find conflict everywhere we turn.  Many television shows, movies and video games often have chaos and violence.   My question is, if a person’s life has a lot of stress and chaos how can watching more of it do anything other than perpetuate a cycle of anxiety?  Then if we have a lot of anxiety and very little peace, how does that affect our health and our mental and spiritual state of being?

What does the Bible say about peace?

Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 29:11 The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Psalm 34:14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

 For me peace comes in the quiet, in prayer and often talking to God in nature.  Although sometimes it doesn’t always come easily.  As in Eleanor’s quote and Psalm 34:14, sometimes we have to work at it and pursue it.  I believe we can only find true peace in Jesus and often we have to push in and even ask the Lord to help us.  I have also found that we need to pray and ask the Lord to bring peace and change the atmosphere around us.  This could be in our homes, or wherever we may be.  I have seen and felt this work before.  In the book, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, she wrote about the fighting and yelling in a women’s barracks in one of the Nazi prison camps they were sent to.  Her sister said, “Let’s pray for peace,” and right before their eyes it all began to change. 

Right before our very eyes we too could have more peace around us.  More peace in our waking and our sleeping for the Lord gives strength to His people and blesses them with peace.  We may have to take the time and effort to do somethings like turn from sin and spend time with the Lord.  We may even have to ask Him to help us let go of somethings and put our trust in Him.  Peace is worth pursuing because peace is worth having.

Prayer,

Lord, the word peace has almost become a cliché.  May we begin to understand it for what it truly is, absence from your presence and from your best for our lives. Lord, thank you for allowing us to be in your presence, humble ourselves and ask for your help and strength to be able to pursue one of your greatest gifts, peace.  Help us become peaceful people who calm situations and bring hope to others.  May we remember to pray and ask you to change the atmosphere in the places we find ourselves.  May peace reign not just in us but in the world.  As the song says, and I ask, let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

To God be the glory! I love this!  Now you will know the rest of the story.

The song, Let There be Peace on Earth was written by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller in 1955. Wikipedia states the following:  Jackson-Miller, who had been suicidal after the failure of her marriage to screenwriter Felix Jackson, later said that she wrote the song after discovering what she called the “life-saving joy of God’s peace and unconditional love.”    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_There_Be_Peace_on_Earth_(song)

Shalom my friends and God Bless.

Sincerely,

Sally

Note:  Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalom