“Longing For Lasting Peace”

What in the world is going on? I can find myself out of peace when things aren’t going my way… when my goals aren’t being met… when things I value are being threatened… “what in the world is going on”. Yet, being out of peace can be a barometer showing me what I value in life.  

I don’t usually lose my peace over things that are unimportant to me. “Hey, the Cleveland Browns lost on Sunday”…. well, actually I’m not a fan of the Browns and I don’t really care. “Dave, did you hear that the Academy Awards are not drawing big numbers to their broadcast….. hmmmm, yawn, yawn”.  You get the idea, I’m very peaceful hearing about things that don’t matter to me.

When I find myself losing my peace, I need to examine why ….. why am I so agitated and upset? Why are things hitting closer to home? All of this is somewhat “graduated”…i.e.  I can move from “uninterested to slightly interested to pretty interested to VERY INTERESTED”. Okay, let’s dive a little deeper. 

What if my teams are losing (Giants and Cardinals), what if my retirement account is taking a hit, what if my country is abandoning  its moral bedrock, what if some nuclear power is acting like a drunken lunatic and threatening my world, what if my family has significant health and life challenges, what if the church is showing major declines and confusions. Now my peace can be sneaking out the window, or even jumping out the window. Now, I’m starting to worry. I’m no longer “Mr. Peace”.

Some of this may be predictable and even normal. But while I do worry about a lot of this, my fundamental posture should still be peace. My fundamental bedrock position should be one of peace. My peace is based on Jesus, on God Almighty who does not waver. “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” (Is. 54:10)

Heaven is our home. Life on this side of the veil is filled with many joys and delights and foretastes of heaven, but also many sorrows. The world, the flesh , and the devil still plague us day in and day out. The cross is part of our daily life. But heaven is our home. Our hope is heaven where every tear will be wiped away…. where all the trials of wars and rumors of war and heartache and sickness and death will be over…. over forever.

When I recall these foundational truths, my peace returns. Sure I dread today’s terrible trials and sorrow and sufferings, but I know that this is not our destiny. I need to pray and do what I can to help, while remembering that our home is in heaven. Christ has conquered all of this. He defeated sin, Satan, and death. One day we will fully experience this magnificent victory of our Lord and Savior. Boy oh boy, what a day that will be. And that is very good news.