All of us seek to find peace in our lives. The dictionary defines peace as: “a state of concord or tranquility, a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom, freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions, harmony in personal relations”. Independently of your own personal definition of peace, I am sure you agree that it is a good thing worthy to be sought.
In John 14:27, the Bible says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. Here, the Bible is very clear to present to us that there are two types of peace: the peace given by the world and the peace that comes from God. And I will present their differences with an illustration.
One day, two artists had to paint a picture about peace from their own perspective. Each one of them had to paint a picture of what peace was for them. One artist painted a beautiful and very still lake behind some mountains. A very calm picture. The other one painted a waterfall, in which the waters ran heavily, and, in the middle of that scenario, there was a tree with a small bird resting in its nest. Even though most of us, during our lives, seek to find this calm and very still lake, what we normally find is this heavy waterfall. We could say that the first picture (the one with the lake) is the peace that comes from the world and the second one (with the bird resting in the midst of the heavy waters running) is the peace that comes from God.
The peace that comes from the world, even though it may look very attractive and convincing, is false. It is a temporary peace; in other words, it is a peace based on the moment. When the weather is nice, the sun is shining, the wind is blowing in the perfect way and there is no opposition happening in your life, you may feel this nice feeling of peace. You may feel happy and ready to “face” the world. Things appear to be just perfect. However, when there is a slight change in the weather, the wind starts to blow a little stronger and the clouds start to cover the skies, the nice feeling gives space to doubts, confusion, sadness and thoughts full of fear inside of your mind. Since the peace of the world is just based on circumstances, it is transitory.
Some people live their entire lives seeking this perfect scenario, seeking the moment they will be like that lake: very calm and still, surrounded by favorable circumstances. However, this probably will never happen, because we live in a world surrounded by people, we do not live in isolation. Every day, the things that happen to you are influenced by other people’s actions. For example, when you go to work, sometimes your train is on time and sometimes your train is delayed, because, somewhere, something happened and someone decided to stop the train. What you do at work is affected or influenced by the actions and decisions made by other people. When you turn on the news, you see decisions made by the government that were influenced or affected by other countries or by the situation your country is facing at the moment. Those decisions are going to influence the way you are going to live.
What I am saying is that, most probably, there will always be an unexpected situation happening in your life, just because you are living in society, in a world full of people making decisions all the time. Most times, we cannot really choose all situations that happen in our lives; however, we can choose the way we are going to face them. Sometimes we do not even know why we are facing some situations, but we can be guided on how we are going to face them. There is where we can see the peace that comes from God.
Some people try to run away from unexpected situations by isolating themselves from others. They think that, if they spend their lives isolated inside of their houses, they can run away from their lives and they will find the peace they are seeking. But will they? Will you ever find peace running away from something? Will you ever find a solution, running away from the problem?
The second picture illustrates the peace from God, because even in the midst of that heavy waterfall, the little bird is resting in its nest. The peace that comes from God goes beyond feelings. It goes beyond circumstances and moments. It is a peace that comes from inside of you, from your spirit, and it has the power of influencing your thoughts and your actions. This peace is based on the faith you have in God and on the understanding you have about who God is. God, through His peace inside of us, shows us how we can live our lives despite the storms, heavy waterfalls and circumstances around us.
With God, that state of concord, tranquility and security can be obtained even in the middle of storms, because peace is who He is. He is the God of peace, the Lord of peace and the Prince of peace. In the Bible, 2 Corinthians 13:11 says: “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you”. In 2 Thessalonians 3:16, it is written: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you”. Another translation of that same verse is even more meaningful: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace at all times and in every way [that peace and spiritual well-being that comes to those who walk with Him, regardless of life’s circumstances]”.
That is the peace that comes from God! A peace that works inside of us regardless of any situation. Walking with God is not magic. It is not because you started walking with God that, suddenly your life will be like that calm lake without even a slight wind; however, when you walk with Him, He can give you that security, that freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions. He can bring harmony to your thoughts and emotions. He is the peace Himself. Once, I read that life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but it is learning to dance in the rain. God can teach you and guide you to dance in the midst of the storm! And He can do all this because that is part of His nature, that is who He is.
Throughout the Bible, we can see God being called by different names. One of them is “Yahweh”. That shows a relational God, an expression of the favor of God upon His people; that means that those who know His name can indeed trust Him. And, through the Bible, we can see that name being manifested in different ways, revealing aspects of His character and of what He is capable of doing. Through Yahweh Rapha, we can see the God who heals. Yahweh Jireh shows the God who provides. And Yahweh Shalom means that the Lord is peace. Shalom is a Hebrew word that denotes peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. In short, with God, we can be perfectly completed inside of us, not mattering the situation we are facing outside.
God is the only perfect solution for any problems you may face throughout life. With Him, we have that perfect peace inside of us.