Peace In Our Time

Peace In Our Time One of the most interesting thoughts about peace is the idea that we all want it. Which is actually a good thing. We all want peace. All the warmongers, all the dictators, all the politicians, all the NRA members, all the criminals, all the religious. Even the weapon makers want peace. The problem is that we all want peace in the way we see it.

If you ask a person protesting the government or a gun manufacturer and ask them if they want peace, they will get snotty and say something like, “Well, duh. Why do you think I am protesting?” But the very act of protesting is a form of war. That aside, peace to them will be their own version of it.

And maybe that same person protests anyone who is pro-life. You see how that is contradictory to their ideas. It’s their version of peace.

Many who have conservative values will be the same way. Despite our rights as a person, we are commonly in disagreement with our own demands by not knowing what really is peace.

Mankind has spent thousands of years seeking “peace in our time”. Which is, essentially a great need to speak and declare that, “I don’t want to fight for something for my kids or grandkids, I want it now”. Which, granted, is not exactly a bad thing to expect. World peace is a great concept. A fruitless and useless one, but great still.

In the first paragraph I spoke of the many people who would seem to be the last on the list of those seeking peace, but they’re not. All of mankind wants peace. It’s just that we all have our own version or type of peace we are looking for.

For instance, Vladimir Putin want peace, but control of those in his and other countries as well. And he will enslave anyone that interferes with that peace. His version.

The history of peace goes back to the men and women in the book of Genesis. The wars and battles that were fought all had a “peace overtone” to them. Crazy as it sounds, that is what all are looking for. In a very strange way, we want peace at any cost. Including war.

What does the Word say about it? Well, the word “peace” is in the New King James Version nearly 400 times. That’s a lot. Maybe there’s a reason for it to be repeated so much. Maybe it’s important?

Remember the verse that says, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”? (Luke 2:14) Part of the announcement of Jesus Christ’s arrival. The Messiah was supposed to bring peace. Every year, we celebrate Him and His birth, peace and goodwill on earth. Yet wars rage on.

The Messiah came, as promised, and man still has no peace.

What did we miss?

Peace is not a commodity. It’s not something that just gets handed to us. That’s because peace is a spiritual condition, not a physical thing.

You see, true peace is not the lack of war, it’s the lack of turmoil.

When we find peace in the center of our existence, we will live in peace in our world. It’s the reason some can remain so calm and “peaceful” in the middle of the worst conditions.

In Mark 4, Jesus is in the boat with the disciples. He was tired and found a place in the stern to rest. As He fell asleep, the winds rose and a storm came up. It’s a very well known passage about Him being able to sleep when the world raged on.

Often people cannot rest because their minds and hearts are struggling with peace. The story goes on to show that Jesus was awoken to calm the storm. He even spoke the word “peace” to the storm. Then questioned the faith of the disciples as the gale disappeared.

Why is it that mankind has called for peace throughout eternity and still rises up to kill and murder. Why is the violence still raging?

Actually, this is the simplest of answers. Jesus did indeed bring peace to the earth. But not everyone accepts His form of peace. Imagine if we all did? If every person on earth came to know Jesus? What a beautiful thing that would be.

If everyone on earth knew Jesus and had His peace in their heart (for real, not just in word) then the peace that everyone clamors for all the time would become a reality. After all, we would never want to fight against someone we love as fellow members of God’s Family.

That would be the peace that people think they can have apart from God.

So how’s that working out?