Shalom… It is a Hebrew word. Most people know it means peace, but what is peace?
Is peace simply absence of conflict or war? What steals peace away, what prevents it from being the norm for us?
People search for it…try all sorts of methods to gain it, trying to chase away the inner conflict and be complete… somehow….ANY how…any way.
The problem is that we can not stand alone against life’s daily pressures for very long. We run into the unfriendly, the unhealthy, the incomplete, the discontent…and it takes our peace.
Oh, we may convince ourselves that we do in fact have peace, that we do not CARE about the unfriendly, unhealthy, incomplete, and discontent…
And maybe you don’t.
But IF you don’t, your peace is diminished whether you admit it or not. You are less than you were created to be if you become calloused to those unfriendly, unhealthy, incomplete……
But knowing the love of God, and living in relationship with HIM, is the single way to true peace. He is the single answer. The enemy will give you some attractive alternatives, fashion some good counterfeits for you, and present some misleading choices that will give you a short lived ‘peace’ that will blow up in your face eventually.
As I continue to reflect on Psalm 119,I read the section of verses 161-168 and I find great comfort for my lack of peace this hour….(He's so good,He sends the right Word every time…)
“Great peace have they who love Your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” (Ps. 119: 165)
My peace is not in a perfect life, because I don’t have one.
My peace is not because there is no conflict, there is plenty.
My peace is not because I have no aches and pains, no unfriendly people to deal with, or situations that make me wish for a different one…. I have plenty situations that I’d just as soon not have to deal with. My hands and feet are old, tired, and about worn out. My life does not always unfold as I expected.
But my peace does not depend on any of those things, I have peace because I have a God Who will always act toward the welfare of His children. I serve a God Who defines what it is to be complete.
And He loves me. I am in covenant relationship with Him.
As for me, I’ll just take up the cross and follow…(Mt. 16:24) I will know His peace even in a raging storm.
“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)
I do not comprehend why so many refuse Him….why they refuse to accept the peace and security that is found in living by His design standard.
But I can’t want it bad enough for you…You get to pick.
