As I was taking a walk one evening, I noticed these clouds. I like to look for shapes in the clouds, and these looked like they formed an angel spreading its protective wings over a church building. That brought to my mind the verse:
“For he shall give his angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways.”
Psalm 91:11, KJV
The entire Psalm 91 talks about the safety of abiding in the presence of God which is where the peace in God is. No matter what is going on around us, in the presence of God, there is peace. God doesn’t promise a world free from danger, but He does promise His help whenever we face danger. That is comforting to know that I’m never alone even in the midst of stress or possible danger, and that He will help me. Human nature, though, would rather skip the danger part and just get on with a peaceful life. We will one day in Heaven, but for now, we need to remind ourselves that God is only a prayer away at any time of day or night.
“These things I have spoken to you,
so that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Peace in God is trusting that His presence and peace will never leave you. I read a lot and my favorite books are Amish romance novels. I know everyone has their own opinion about various books on the market, but I like them for several reasons, so please don’t judge me if you disagree. I’ve read many different authors of these books and some are better than others. What I like about them is that they are clean, romantic without being steamy and trashy, and they bring God into their lives. I don’t always agree with their view of God nor all their practices, but the books often give me some Biblical principle to think about—which of course I verify in the Bible.
The one thing that I find disconcerting, though, is that so many of the characters in the stories who have fallen into sin or left the Amish faith think that God has forsaken them and they can never be forgiven. That is farthest from the truth. Even though we sin or bad things happen to us or our loved ones, He never leaves us and will always forgive us when we come back to Him. I’m glad to see that in the end of each book’s story the character comes back to God and experiences the love and forgiveness of God and fellow believers. While that may not always happen in real life, it is the way it should be.
Peace in God is dependent on our relationship with Him. Liken it to your refrigerator. If you keep it plugged into the power source, it will keep your food cold. But if the electric goes out or the plug is pulled out, there will be no power source to keep it cold. If we stay plugged into our relationship with God through prayer, Bible reading, worship, and praise, the peace will be there in our hearts. But if we remove ourselves from God’s presence, don’t pray, don’t fellowship with other Christians, and don’t read God’s instruction Book, then the peace will dissipate slowly at first, but completely at last unless we come back to Him.
Can there ever be peace in any other person or thing??? Maybe for a time you might have a sense of peace, but it will not be a strong lasting peace like the peace in God. Just as Matthew 6:21, NIV says “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”, so it goes that your peace in God will be present when your heart is in the right place and trusting in the right person—God! Do you have real and lasting peace in God today or is it a false and temporary peace that will fade away over time? Which would you rather have?