Peace. Quiet. Rest. No worries. No troubles. No hardships. Freedom from stress. Freedom from strife. Freedom from conflicts. Whether we know it or not, peace is perhaps one of the things we long for the most. But perhaps it’s one of the things we lack the most. Our world is filled with strife. It’s filled with war, hate, murder, theft, slander, drama, arguments, spite, death. Families torn apart by divorce, loved ones suffering from cancer, natural disasters causing devastation. We look out into this crazy messed up world and wonder, where is the peace? Not only does the world lack peace, but we also lack inner peace. Our lives are racked with worries, insecurities, and fears. We look for peace but never find it. We look for it in relationships. We look for it in work. We look for it in vacations. We look for it in the bottom of our empty beer mugs. We search high and low but never find it. And in the midst of all of this, we ask, where is God?
Where is God? Where is he in all of this? Where was he when my parents got a divorce? Where was he when my loved one died? Where was he when I lost my job? Where were you God? Where was he?
Where was God? He was right there by your side. He was always there. He was always there, waiting for you to call on him. Waiting for you to recognize your need for him. Waiting for you to recognize that he is the only source of lasting, true peace. Where God is present, there is peace. Where he is not present, there is no peace.
Israel never experienced a greater time of peace then during the reign of Solomon. Why was there such great peace? Because God was present. Solomon built the temple, and God filled the temple with his presence. He was there, present with his people. And there was much peace.
But what happened? Why did God send his people into exile? What caused God to turn his back on his people, his chosen people? Why would God let them face turmoil, suffering, and pain like that? Because God’s people rejected him. They rejected and turned their back on him. In their rebellion, in their sin, they pushed God away. They pushed him away and violated God’s covenant. God did not want to destroy them and for a long time he was patient with them. But they continued to reject him. They continued to push him away, and in the end, God left them. He left them completely; and with the absence of his presence, with the absence of his peace, a flood of turmoil, pain, and suffering came rushing in to take them away into exile.
The same goes for us. When God is present in our hearts and lives, we will have peace. We will have an inner peace that will allow us to stand firm through the trials, tribulations, and storms of this life. This peace won’t necessarily bring freedom from the trials, tribulations, and storms of life, but it will bring freedom from worry, insecurities and fear. But this peace only comes about when we allow God to enter into and mold and shape our hearts and lives. However, when we sin. When we sin and reject God. When we sin, and reject, and push God away, he will remove his presence from our hearts and lives, and we will no longer live at peace. Sin is what separates us from God. Sin puts up a barrier between us and God and keeps us from experiencing the peace and presence of God in our lives. If we are living in sin and want to live in peace (a peace which can only come from God), we must come to God in repentance. We must come to God in repentance; recognizing our sin, and recognizing that our sin has separated us from God’s presence and peace in our lives. We must ask for forgiveness of that sin; recognizing that despite our sin, we are still loved by God, and he has not only forgiven but has forgotten our sin. We must then ask God back into our hearts and lives and ask for his peace that transcends all understanding.
Do you want to live at peace? I know I sure do.
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