Peace of the Lord

   At the last supper Jesus told the apostles, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” (John 14: 27).  He wanted them to be confident in the peace only He can provide.  His peace is a peace far beyond anything the world can offer.

   In our world today people worry about so many things; their family, their heath, their job and so much more.  These worries can create discontent within and cause us to lose the peace God wants for us.  If we place too much focus on the earthly things we experience we risk pushing out the spiritual things that should be the focus of our lives.

   My father was a worrier from the word go.  There was nothing that he didn’t worry about.  In fact, if he had nothing to worry over he was concerned that he must have forgotten something that deserved his worry.  Maybe you too know of someone whose life seems to revolve around worrying over things that don’t really matter in God’s plan.  If so you know that happiness and peace doesn’t come from that kind of worry.

   This isn’t to say that we are not to prepare for our well-being.  We need to make every effort to ensure we and our families are taken care of materially.  However, that doesn’t have to mean daily or even hourly worry.  These things can be prioritized and dealt with in a manner that doesn’t intrude upon the peace our Lord has given.

   Stewardship is something that we hear and talk about a lot as Christians.  We are normally referring to how we support the church with our time and money.  Yet we are also to be good stewards of all of God’s gifts.  Our health, both physical and emotional should be part of that stewardship.  If we allow material concerns and worries to harm our heath or detract from our spiritual peace we are not practicing good stewardship.

   God wants you to be happy.  He wants you to live your life in peace and contentment.  Our peace of mind is directly related to our relationship with Him and His plan for us.  Satan wants you to be unhappy.  He wants you to live your life worrying about tomorrow.  The earthly matters that we worry about can destroy the peace we should be enjoying as Christians.

   We can properly care for the material things and still maintain our spiritual peace if we keep our priorities in focus.  In the end the material things we worry about will pass away.  The peace of God is eternal.  In prayer and confidence take comfort in God’s peace.