Day 6: “I Will Give You Peace”

I Will Give You Peace 

By Jan Kingan 

Pioneen Valley Church of Christ 

The Fear: 

Is peace just the absence of chaos or conflict, or is it more complicated than that?  Will I ever understand or feel real peace? 

Since Jesus left his peace with us already, why do I feel the need to keep asking for it? 

The Promise: 

John 14:27 (NIV) – “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.” 

Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV) – “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

The Personal: 

What is peace? For a young mom, it may be a few minutes to herself at the end of a beautiful, noisy day. For someone with a job, it may mean polite customers, supportive co workers or a boss who doesn’t stress you out. For someone struggling financially, peace may be having all the bills paid at the end of a month and still having enough money to put food on the table. With family and friends, peace may be a general lack of conflict, like the proverbial family holiday gathering with no arguments about politics or religion or… you get my drift. 

I like to think I have become a more peaceful person as I have matured, both in years and in Christ. I do my best to make my home a place where family and friends can feel a sense of peace when they’re in it. I rarely, if ever, go from zero to sixty on the rage-o-meter anymore when something doesn’t go my way or I’m frustrated or feeling not heard. (I used to, but that’s a story for another time.) I have learned to “pick my battles” and there aren’t too many hills I choose to die on these days. I submit to my brothers and sisters out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). 

All of these things give me a measure of what I believe to be Christ’s peace. But recently, someone pointed out to me that while I am very good at projects (beginning, middle,

end, move on), the relationships in my life, particularly the closest ones, are not projects.  Relationships are, in the words of Paul McCartney, on “the long and winding road”. 

I long for peace in some currently fraught relationships. When that doesn’t happen, when I can’t bring about a benchmark of improvement or calm, I let go of my peace, the peace that God promised and Jesus brought. When there’s some kind of a bump, or too many bumps in a row, I let the things that I consider the opposite of peace, such as bitterness, sadness, hopelessness and anger, rob me of joy. 

Why? 

In Philippians 4:7, Paul talks about a “peace that transcends all understanding.” That seems, well, beyond understanding, and not entirely helpful when I’m mired in the muck of peacelessness. 

But look at how Eugene Peterson words it in his paraphrased version of the Bible known as “The Message”: 

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Philippians 4:6-7 MSG (Emphasis mine.) 

It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. 

Life doesn’t stop. Bumps don’t go away. Conflict is inevitable and painfully repetitive.  Some days I feel like I will never be at peace again. (A little dramatic, I know. But can you relate?) 

So to get the “sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good”, I’m supposed to take the worry out of the center of my swirling mess and put Christ there instead. 

Take out the useless, substitute what is useful. 

The Message Bible’s take on Jesus’s promise of John 14:27 helps me to understand: 

“I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.” John 14:25-27 MSG 

Put another way, when I take the worry out of the hole in the middle of my messy life and put Christ in the middle, I am whole. (See what I did there?)

My troubles are still around me, but Christ is at the center of all. So instead of feeling bereft, I get to live in the gift of Christ’s peace 

For me, this means being intentional about letting “petitions and praises shape my worries into prayers.” Shaping makes me thinks of making pottery, particularly on a wheel.  Start shaping the clay as the wheel turns, break it down, shape it again, repeat as much as necessary to get to your vision at the end. What starts as a lump becomes something beautiful and useful. 

Letting my petitions and praises shape my worries into prayers is a constant process, not a one-shot deal. But after a time, or as the Message Bible says, “before I know it”, a sense of God’s wholeness will come and settle me down. 

The Practical: 

If that sounds like peace to you, I encourage you to bring Christ into the center of your chaos and conflict, your mess and misery, and to keep him there through continual petitions and praises which God will turn into prayers that keep you settled with the peace Jesus left for us. 

Think of a situation in your life that is unsettling, one that you think of as the opposite of peaceful. Close your eyes and imagine plucking your worries and sadness out and putting Jesus right smack in the middle. Direct your prayers toward keeping him in the midst of your challenge every day. Picture yourself resting in God’s embrace. 

Stay connected to God’s peace by furthering your understanding of it, or reminding yourself through His word. Some scriptures that may help include Numbers 6:24-26; Psalm 23; Isaiah 26:3; John 16:33; Romans 8:8; and many others. 

The Prayer: 

Dear Heavenly Father, today I lift up my difficulties to You, and ask You to help me keep Christ in the middle of it all. Let me claim the peace Your Son brought through his life and bought with his sacrifice of death for my sake. Amen.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this quiet time feel free to leave a comment below!

See all the quiet times from this series here: https://www.icocne.org/category/promises-quiet-time-series/

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