“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27 ESV). In preparing His disciples for His departure, Jesus spoke these words and again, after His resurrection, His first words to the gathered disciples were “Peace be with you” (John 20:19b ESV).
How important Jesus must have known these words would be for His followers throughout every age. And they are! It is so easy to let our hearts be troubled. Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” It is easy for me to let my heart be troubled. Often this is over relatively small things that leave me feeling rattled and frustrated. Into every situation, the Lord wants to breathe His peace over us. Our job is to keep receiving it. Moment by moment. Day by day. One situation at a time.
Some days seem to start too fast. All of a sudden there are the stresses of the day rushing at me, as C.S. Lewis says, like wild animals. Small things. Even silly things—I later realize when I have a moment to reflect. Some frustrations seem so repetitive, even predictable. It’s easy to get trigger-happy with my frustrated reactions. Jesus speaks peace to these overheated reactions if I will just let Him. Often it only takes a few minutes of turning to Him.
Sometimes, it seems easier just to stay angry or distracted by many things—like Martha in the Gospels (see Luke 10:38-42). Anger can be temporarily energizing. Distractions, good and bad, serve to do exactly that—distract. The fallen nature feeds on these things and the devil has a hay day. The world offers us many false promises of finding peace in ways other than through Jesus. These appear to produce peace but really produce a sort of numbness that only mimics the Lord’s peace. Or the world offers us many and various enticements so that we keep ourselves from noticing the lack of peace.
One of the ways we can most clearly demonstrate the difference Jesus makes is to be people who have this peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7). But we cannot do this by sheer will power. We do it by continually turning back to the Lord and receiving His peace. I fail in this all the time but I keep turning back. This is what God calls us to—again and again. Jesus knew we would struggle with this while we are in the world. He said: “But take heart I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Only in Him do we overcome. Jesus is ready to breathe His peace on us every time we need it. To cool our fevered brows. To quiet our angry, frustrated or fearful hearts. He does this, as always, through His Word and by his Spirit. After He had spoken peace over His disciples (after His Resurrection), He said: “Peace be with you… Receive the Holy Spirit.” (See John 20:21-22 and Galatians 5:22.) He speaks and His word brings things to pass. He sends His Holy Spirit as He promised to transform our lives—gradually, over and over, day by day, moment by moment—a spring that never fails. (See Isaiah 58:11b and John 4:14).
In this Epiphany season of God’s Love, Jesus speaks His peace to you and sends His Holy Spirit to impart this peace to quiet your soul. Receive from Him.
[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DyGkEpxitLTc img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/yGkEpxitLTc/0.jpg embed=true share=false width=580 height=325 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=med autostart=false /]
