What Peace Isn’t!
While we like to think of what peace is, how often do we think of what it is not;
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in theHoly Ghost. Romans 14:17 (KJV)
We will find peace in God through the Holy Ghost. We will also find righteousness and joy. They are by-products of the Spirit of God filling us to overflowing. These things are part of the “benefit package” if you will of being a believer in Christ Jesus. They have nothing to do with material things, they are instead intrinsic.
This is contrary to the spirit that is at work in the world. The world feels as if having enough to eat, enough to drink and enough possessions will give you peace. The focus is on the material. The interesting thing is that when they feel as if they have attained enough of the material, they still find no lasting peace because they are either worried about keeping what they have, or worrying about someone else trying to take it from them.
I would be the first to admit that although God wants to give us these intrinsic things when we first believe, it usually doesn’t manifest right away. There is a tug of war that goes on within our heart between what we think we want and what we really want. It just takes a few trials for us to realize that material things will never satisfy like finding peace and joy will.
What is the lesson then? As we continue on our journey, striving for life in the kingdom, we also find that whoever seeks after the things of the Spirit of God pleases God and also receives approval from other humans. As we relinquish striving for the material things we find that we can let worry go, our blood pressure goes down, our love for the things of God goes up. We become “living epistles, known and read of men”, our life becomes a testament of God’s grace.
In addition to all of these things however, we find that God also gives us many of the things that our heart once longed for. While we may appreciate them, they don’t have a hold on us. They are just that – “things”. For our true riches come from the Kingdom of God- not from the earth.
Peace may seem illusive to those who don’t know Jesus- for the believer it is not – it is always at hand.
Maria