Finding Peace
What are you looking for in life? Don’t think too much, just answer - what comes to mind? What are most of us looking for? I am guessing, based on my own life and conversations I’ve had - it’s happiness, safety, love, financial security, success, purpose, or some combination of all of these. But what about peace? And what pleasure or fulfillment would any of these bring without peace? Relationships fail, we can be cheated out of success, purpose seems futile when conflict rules, material things don’t make up for a loss of peace.
Without peace, we remain restless, always looking, never satisfied for long, never truly finding the key to contentment on this earth. So we keep looking, wandering, trying new avenues that might lead to peace and satisfaction.
In this we are like the writer of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is an essay on the pursuit of what would make life gratifying. Was it written by some poor soul who had no chance at this life’s bounty? No, to the contrary, it was written, most agree, by Solomon, son of David and King of Israel, the wealthiest and wisest man of his time. Searching restlessly, searching for peace and not finding it, because he was looking in all the wrong places.
Although Ecclesiastes is an ancient piece of literature, it probably rings true as much as any modern writing. Man looking for what would make him happy, while overlooking the peace and contentment that is right there within his reach. The essay begins with the writer’s conclusion of life on earth: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity - [a mist, or a vapor].” How many times have we felt like what we’re chasing, what will satisfy us, is as unachievable as capturing the wind?
Solomon tells us he pursued wisdom, what we might label education, as a way to give meaning to life. We know that Solomon was granted great wisdom from God; there was no one wiser. What did it get him? He says, “I perceived that this is also but a striving after the wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow” (Eccl 1:17-18).
He tried self-indulgence - pleasure. He drank wine, bought slaves, built lavish houses and gardens, gathered silver and gold. Certainly he lived “the good life,” one better than we can probably imagine. Yet he calls it a “striving after the wind,” saying, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income…when goods increase they increase who eat them…just as he came (into this earth), so shall he go…” (Eccl 5:10 ff).
He looked to all his work and accomplishments. His kingdom was so vast and rich, it left the visiting Queen of Sheba breathless. The world of Solomon’s time was certainly impressed with his accomplishments. How did he feel about it? He says, “So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it” (Eccl 2:20-21).
In Ecclesiastes 1, Solomon observes that “Generations come and go, the sun rises and sets, all streams run to the sea, yet the sea is not full, all things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” Much of the restlessness and anxiety of our modern world resonates with the sentiments in these verses. And as long as we are looking for peace in worldly pursuits, chasing the wind is all we will know.
Fortunately, Ecclesiastes 2 tells us that God has “put eternity into man’s heart” allowing our souls to recognize that there must be something more than this life has to offer. He has given us the same promise He gave to Solomon that if we seek Him, He will let us find Him (1 Chron 28:9). And God has granted us His divine word to show us true peace, what it means and how to attain it.
Maybe you’re saying, “From my experience, the Bible is not a very peaceful book. There are an awful lot of wars, curses, and punishments.” That’s fair. I use a daily Bible reading program, and just this morning in my reading from 2 Kings 9, murderous Queen Jezebel was executed when thrown by her own officials from a tower; then her body was eaten by dogs beyond recognition. Ew.
But let’s look further, and let’s be fair ourselves. As we begin the Bible story, the true beginning, Genesis 1:1, we find darkness and chaos, and that is all. And when God speaks, light comes, and when He speaks again, the waters and atmosphere take shape, and then the sea and dry land. In seven days, God took chaos and darkness and created a marvelous functioning world and universe and a garden where He placed man. There, they had a loving, daily relationship. Peace. God created the world, controlled the world, and walked with man.
But we know too well that Adam and Eve rejected God’s word, and sin entered the world. God lets us see through centuries of time, until today, that sin is the enemy of peace. And reconciliation from sin can only come from God. God sent His Son to pay the price of peace for our soul. Speaking of Jesus, Eph 2:14-15 says, “For He Himself is our peace…by abolishing in His flesh the enmity…”. Peace with God is possible through the blood of Jesus.
Skipping to the last chapters of the Bible, Christ conquers sin forever, Satan is cast down, and those who have the name of Christ on their foreheads live in a city that needs no sun, for God is the light. There we find the Tree of Life and The Throne of God, and nothing accursed will ever enter. Eternal peace.
I don’t know how late in life the writer of Ecclesiastes came to the realization “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl 12:13). When we have found peace with God, by fearing and obeying Him, our perspective on life changes. With eternity in our heart, we realize that time on earth is but a passing moment. We store our true treasures in Heaven where moth and rust and thieves can never take it away. All the wisdom we gather in this life is nothing compared to what we will know in eternity.
Life on earth, even with its sorrow and sin, becomes an opportunity to live in the blessings God intends for us as we work in His Kingdom and wait for His coming. Even Solomon says, “I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil - this is God’s gift to man” (Eccl 3:11-13).
Put away your conflict with God. He has made it possible. He loves you. Let Him be your Father. Be His child. Obey Him and give Him your whole heart. Find peace.
There is a hymn that asks the question, “Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin? With sorrows surging round? Our future all unknown?” Isaiah 26:3 responds, “You (God) keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”