Peace Is Ultimately a Person

The ancient Jewish prophets called Him “the Prince of Peace.” When Jesus came, the Christmas angels promised He would be a Savior whose saving would bring peace. When He left, He promised:
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you (John. 14:27).
His servant Paul summed it up when he reminded us:
He came and preached to you who were far away and peace to those who were near (Eph. 2:17).
Then, in six simple words, he spoke the prescription for peace:
For He Himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14).
I was one of those Paul described as “those who were near.” Years ago, I had recognized that the war in my heart was really a battle with God. I realized that I could not have Christ’s peace until He was my Prince. Opening the hands that had so tightly gripped the steering wheel of my life, I let Jesus drive.
Since we were made to live for the God who made us, everything else is out of place until we find Him. And He can only be found at the cross, where His Son paid the bill for our war against God. Whether we have rejected God, or simply neglected Him, the result is the same—a life He made and paid for, lived without Him. Upon our invitation, He enters our lives—bringing His peace.
I have been pursuing it ever since. The peace I hungered for has been there since Christ came in. But I was like a man with an inexhaustible bank account who wasn’t writing many checks on it. The poverty, the pressure of my life, was waiting for peace to come instead of going after it.
Inner peace is the natural condition of the heart in which Christ lives. I just need to quit blocking and sabotaging the supply lines.
In a sense, my search for peace ends where it began. Years ago I came to Christ for peace. Years later, I am learning to enjoy it by discovering Him more deeply than ever before. The pursuit of peace is ultimately the pursuit of a Person.
Strangely enough, you may be closer to peace than you have ever been, and the stress of your life has carried you there. We stand tired of fighting—and Jesus quietly whispers, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28).
Strong and proud, we don’t feel the need, even though it is just as urgent then. But battered and wounded by years of battle, we know we need help—the rest. That’s when our hand reaches for His. Peace is a Person—and peace rooted in Him can triumphantly stand any test.
If my stress makes me hungry for His peace, then it has driven me home. The storm has blown us into the Harbor that we have looked for all our lives.

[Back to Home]