Peace In The Chaos
Knowing that I would be writing about peace, I began thinking about the topic months ago. I’ve listened to sermons, read commentaries, and, of course, gone through the places in the scriptures that speak of finding peace. Unwisely, I sat down to actually begin the article in earnest during, perhaps, the most chaotic time of the year, starting at American Thanksgiving and heading in December. What was I thinking?
I don’t have any grand revelation about finding peace; my life is just as chaotic as the next person’s. However, focusing on peace has emphasized for me when I feel the most peaceful and, contrarily, when I feel the least peaceful.
In reading the scriptures that deal with peace, I kept coming back to two specific passages. The first is John 14, and the other is Philippians 4.
In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples that He is leaving them, but that they should not “let [their] hearts be troubled” because He is leaving them with His peace. This is not peace as the world knows it, but something that is specific to Him. He tells them that the antidote to worry and anxiety - to having troubled hearts - is to believe in Him. Peace isn’t something to chase and find; it is a product of our faith.
When we look for peace, today, we forget the kind of peace that is already offered. As it always has, the power of darkness that rules this world wants to send us on a wild-goose chase, looking for peace in all the places Satan promises we’ll find it. Yet, it isn’t there; it can’t be. It is only found in Him. What becomes glaringly obvious is that a life without peace is, in essence, a life lived without God.
It is interesting, and not at all coincidental, that the Bible begins and ends with a vision of peace. In the Garden of Eden, humans and God were at peace. Adam and Eve would have been busy, tending to the garden and the animals over which God had given them dominion. It seems that God coming to walk in the garden in the evening wasn’t an odd occurrence. I don’t know that we can even imagine that kind of peace - it is a product of God’s very presence. But it was ruined when Satan came in and Eve questioned God’s wisdom and authority.
From that point onward, sin has been the disrupter of peace - not peace that means a lack of war, although there is that, too. This is an end to man’s peace with God. It begins with Adam and Eve wanting more - more than they had been given, and it ends with all of humanity being separated from God. They forfeited their peace for a promise Satan made but never intended to fulfill. He just wanted to destroy their peaceful existence. And in a way, he succeeds. God, however, through the prophets and the ages, reveals His awesome plan to restore peace between Himself and humanity.
With the birth of the Messiah, the angels announce the arrival of “Peace and good will” and “good tidings” to the Earth (Luke 2). Here is the peace that God gifts to the world - the Christ has arrived.
We have the opportunity to possess His peace, but we won’t find it outside of a relationship with Him. And yet Christians and non-Christians alike look for things of this world to bring peace.
One place the western world looks for peace is in modern medicine. I am not disparaging using medication when needed; however, illness can become its own epidemic, not to mention something that robs us of our peace. I am always stunned when I come to the US to see how many advertisements are for medication. You don’t see that in Europe, so it’s always a shock to my system. In the most affluent country on earth, we are fed messages that we are lacking - that we need drugs to compensate for a lack of focus, joy, or motivation. And, like Adam and Eve, we begin to doubt what we have and go looking for something better - but it doesn’t exist, and we are left anxious and afraid.
I have to wonder if the obsession with medicine stems from a fear of death. Our lives can spin out of control, running to and from doctors’ offices, trying to get a diagnosis that suits our perspective. I’ve been with Christian women who talk about medication with more authority than they can talk about the scriptures. What are we doing? Have we forgotten that this world is not our home? Are we so tethered to things of this life that we have forgotten that death holds no power over us? Why should we be anxious about something that is A.) inevitable and B.) a gain to us…if that’s what we truly believe. There is room for introspection there!
Ladies, we aren’t robbed of our peace as much as we give it away. By giving Satan entrance into our homes, heads, and hearts, we willingly forfeit what Jesus left for us.
We have so much that we are bored to death with it and go looking for new adventures and greener pastures. I recently had someone ask me what I like to do when I’m bored. Honestly, I had no idea how to respond. I can’t remember the last time I was bored. Now, I am, in general, a boring person, so maybe that question was aimed at the wrong person, but again, we have so much, so much leisure and so many expendable resources, that we get bored with the blessings we have and become ungrateful - discontent - troubled in our hearts. We think we are missing something, and we are…we are missing the gifts of the spiritual realm that are given to us now, like peace and joy.
When Israel left Egypt, they had been in the wilderness for three days - three days - before they began complaining that Moses had brought them out to die. Three days since they had walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. Three days seeing and following the pillar of fire at night and the cloud during the day. Three days. So God purified the water at Marah and led them to Elim where within weeks, they were hungry and complaining again, so God sent them manna. They were told to take only what they needed for each day, and although some hoarded manna, it rotted and spoiled so that they were forced to depend on God daily. But they got bored. Manna wasn’t enough. They wanted more. I’m sure they were anxious. I’m sure they were afraid. But mostly, they were discontent and lacked gratitude and joy. Being in the wilderness was too hard, and many began to talk about just going back to Egypt - back to slavery because although it was not a peaceful existence in any way, physical or mental, it was a situation they understood, and they said that they had eaten well there. I actually wonder if they really had eaten well in Egypt or if they just romanticized it because they were struggling with the unknown in the wilderness. Either way, they had seen God manifested in a multitude of incredible ways, and they still got lost in the chaos of the moment (Exodus 14-16). It’s no different for us. Surely, we see the evidence of God in our lives, but in a tumult of emotions, we, too, turn back to slavery.
If we allow our emotions to rule the moment, then we will never have peace. Not because our emotions are bad, but because if we aren’t in control of them and directing them in a godly direction, they will steer us wrong.
We relinquish His peace - the peace Christ left us - because we forget that it is only found as a by-product of a life lived IN HIM.
I am least at peace in my life when I am distracted by the things of this world and I haven’t spent enough time in the Word. That’s the truth. When I find myself bogged down and overwhelmed with work and the needs of others so that nothing is joyful and it all just feels like a chore, I am not peaceful. My mind goes in a million different directions, and none of them are good or pure or noble, which is where Paul tells the Philippians peace originates.
In Philippians 4, Paul has just told the Christians in Philippi that they don’t have anything to be worried about…sound familiar? Consider the persecution this church has faced. This is where Paul and Silas were jailed for preaching Christ (Acts 16). There’s no earthly peace for this group, but Paul says don’t worry. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, and imitate me. Pray and give thanks for everything that you have…even the suffering. And guard your minds - put up mental barriers against the world’s concerns - and “the peace which passes all understanding” will buffer you from the chaos of the world.
Then in verses 8 and 9, he tells them, and us, exactly how to protect themselves from the wickedness of their culture:
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
We find peace when we meditate on the things of God AND when we DO the things we are told to do in His word. James tells us not to be hearers only; we have to DO; otherwise, we deceive ourselves (James 1:22). And if we are busy hearing AND doing, then we won’t be bored, and we won’t be discontent, and we won’t be anxious, and the God of peace will be with us. It’s promised to us if we can rise above the chaos and focus on Him.
We know how the story ends - it ends where it began - by a river in a garden paradise where peace is realized in its fullest, truest form. Peace is perfected as we will be if we endure. Do we believe it?
Then forge on! Lay up spiritual treasures of love, joy, and patience. Think on things that are true and noble. Approach God regularly with gratitude, relying on Him to fulfill you. Quiet the constant noise around you, and focus on Him. We can cling to His peace IF we choose to do so. He left it for you; don’t turn back to slavery. There’s no peace there. The only true peace is found at the end when we will all be back in the ga
