peace

pursuing peace

Posted on by Grace Day

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, . . . It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133:1-3)

Peace seems to be more elusive than ever these days. Peace is highly sought after but hard to find. It is definitely desirable, so much so that I am told in Hebrews –

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

and Romans gives me further instructions about how I can pursue the peace that I long to experience –

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath,” (Romans 12:18-19)

Peace – what everyone wants, yet what no one seems to possess. Anxiety is at an all-time high, while peace seems only an elusive dream. Jesus said –

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Jesus also told His disciples –

“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.” (John 14:27)

Jesus is called the “Prince of Peace” in Isaiah. The peace Jesus brings to me and to you, dear readers, is not what the world offers, if indeed the world offers anything at all that remotely resembles peace? I don’t think so. The world may define peace as simply the absence of conflict, in which case peace would be impossible to find or to experience for any length of time at all. Currently, conflict seems to be the norm in our lives on every level, from interpersonal to international.

How I long for a respite from the chaos of conflict! I’m guessing you do, too? I know I crave peace, if only for a moment, in this continually contentious world. Maybe that’s why I like this promise from God’s word so much –

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” (Isaiah 26:3)

God’s peace will keep me when I look to Him instead of expecting the culture to give me what it does not possess and so cannot give. And there’s another benefit to the peace God gives – it is a protective peace. In Philippians I am told –

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present my requests to God.”

the result of my doing this?

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

God’s peace is a peace the world cannot understand because His peace does not depend on my circumstances which continually change like the wind blowing first one way, then another. God’s peace is a gift that keeps me – it protects me, just as His word promises it will. It guards both my heart and mind. God’s peace keeps watch over both my emotions and my thoughts. God’s peace brings me rest and calm in the middle of my storms.

It’s like Peter walking across the stormy sea to Jesus. As long as Peter was focused on and looking at Jesus, he had no problem walking on the water. But when Peter turned his gaze from Jesus to his circumstances (the wind whipped water all around him) his emotions (fear) and his thoughts (now anxious and doubting) replaced the peace and hope and courage, he had momentarily experienced during the storm when his attention was solely fixed on Jesus.

Having received God’s gift of peace, I want to practice peace in my daily life. I will actively pursue peace. In fact, this is a command found in Psalms –

“Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14)

To this end, I will keep my mind “stayed upon Him” and “with thanksgiving make my requests to Him” – knowing He has promised it is His peace that will guard me if I do these things. As I “make every effort to live in peace with all men” I will remember –

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)

I will practice peace by watching my words. If I desire peace, I must actively pursue it and practice it “as far as it depends on me.”

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

sincerely, Grace Day

packing away the party

Posted on by Grace Day

That’s what I’ve been doing during these dreary gray days following the birthday bash the world just threw for the baby in the manger – aka the King of kings, Creator of the universe, God’s Son, Jesus. As always, it was quite a celebration complete with lots of lights (inside and out), merry music nonstop, plenty of presents (thanks to out of control consumerism) fabulous food, including Christmas cookies of every kind and fruitcake? and dazzling decorations everywhere you looked. 

But when the cookies are all gone, the music goes silent, the lights go out, all the presents are unwrapped (no more surprises, no more anticipation) there is nothing left to do but to pack away all the decorations that adorned my home during this season of celebration that has now come to an end. I kind of get used to the Santas and the Nativities and the wreaths and the candles and the tree and the stockings etc. during the month of Advent. I become attached to them and so have been reluctant to pack them away again, even though the party is clearly over. They will leave empty spaces and I will miss them.

So I have procrastinated parting with them, packing them away a few at a time rather than all at once. (I guess this is the opposite of ripping the bandage off completely in one swift motion, rather than prolonging the pain by peeling it off slowly) I chose the latter, so my melancholy has been prolonged in this after the party month we call January. Now January is supposed to be the month of new beginnings and resolutions. That means looking forward, not backward. Perhaps this packing away of the party is painful precisely because it keeps me looking backwards? 

Still out are my Zambian Nativity, complete with added Santas and a striped Pixie, and my kitchen windowsill Nativity with Santa bowing at the manger and decor displaying the words “peace”, “joy” and “hope.” Those words aren’t just Christmas words. I want them to be part of my life everyday, not just on holidays or special occasions. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the angel did tell the shepherds – “I bring you glad tidings of great joy.” And of course, hope has been my word for the year two years running now and I see no reason to give it up for another word at this point. Hope is what keeps me going during the darkest, most difficult times. Hope is the light at the end of the tunnel, the anchor during the storm, the promise of what is to come.

As one of my favorite Christmas songs, “Because of Bethlehem” says about Jesus’s birth, “love is born, hope is here, . . . God with us all because of Bethlehem.” Jesus’s arrival here on earth brought hope for all mankind, hope for each and every one of us in every generation – hope for forgiveness and reconciliation with our Holy Creator God – hope for healing, redemption, restoration – hope for an eternal life with our Savior, Jesus. In fact, Jesus said to His disciples this - 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3) 

Now that’s a reason to have hope! Jesus came – the reason for the party in the first place – and Jesus is coming back again to take me to be with Him. So today as I continue packing away the party, I think I’ll leave my “peace,” “joy” and “hope” words in my windowsill just a little while longer. I want to take these words with me into this new year. The birthday party may be over but the “after party” has just begun, and while it’s not as advertised and commercialized as the main event, the after party is an adventure, a daily adventure, worth pursuing.

We typically pack away the decorations when the party is over, but we don’t pack away the gifts we received and opened during the celebration. The gifts are ours to use and to enjoy long after the party has ended and been properly packed away. God gave you and me the gift of His only Son, Jesus. Jesus gives us His gifts of peace, joy and hope. I do not want to take these gifts for granted in this new year. Nor do I want to pack them away and forget about them. When I am anxious and sad and despairing, I want to remember that I have been given the gifts of peace, joy and hope. Gifts that I can take with me and experience new every day as I leave the celebration of Advent behind, but take Advent’s gifts with me into this new year. I will not make the mistake of packing away Jesus’s gifts of peace, joy and hope. Jesus told His disciples –

“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.” (John 14:27)

King David said this –

“You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” (Psalm 116:11)

And I love these words of Isaiah, which remind me just what hope in God does –

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

With God’s good gifts I can peacefully, joyfully soar on wings of hope in this new year! Impossible?

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ “ (Matthew 19:26) 

sincerely,  Grace Day