Doesn’t it seem like peace is hard to come by? Any peace and every peace seem to be rare to find and fleeting to experience. We yearn for inner peace, peace of mind, peace with others, peace in circumstances, peace in decisions, but what we seem to get, more often than not, is worry, doubt, conflict, and regret.

The peace we often seek is nothing more than a broken promise that the world offers but can never truly deliver on. We learn, from the time we are very young, that if we play by the rules of the world…   our reward will be peace. So, we work hard, make prudent choices, defer to safety, and delay gratification. While this may result in a life of stability and security…  it never really delivers peace. Bad things happen, the future is unpredictable, and all that we’ve planned for and worked for can dissolve in an uncertain future, where the rules of the game change and leave us vulnerable, exposed, and peace-less.

So it goes whenever we look to the world, or anyone or anything in the world, to be the source of our peace. The hard lesson we learn is that the world cannot deliver on the promise of peace…   or any other promise for that matter. The world itself is an interconnected web of earthly kingdoms, powers, passions, and personalities, and all are under the influence of sin. Paul, in Romans 1:29-31, describes what the world is like under the influence of sin and not God: “filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

So, what about peace? God’s promise to us in Jesus is peace, true peace. The promise is spoken when Jesus is born (in Luke 2) “peace on earth, and goodwill to those who God favors”. The promise continues in Jesus own words when he says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27) And, when he says: “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33) Even when Jesus is crucified and resurrected, he continues to encourage his disciples (and us!) with the promise of peace on his lips:

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:19-22)

This promise of peace enables us to overcome all the uncertainty and strife we experience in the world. And, the really good news is that this peace cannot be diminished or destroyed by this world, because its source is not of this world. Jesus is the source of our peace! And with the peace of Christ we can rise above even the toughest challenges we face.