Real Hope: Peace That Passes All Understandingنموونە

What Is ‘Peace’?

In recent years – and even on a few occasions in the last couple of months – protestors have taken to the streets to campaign for various causes: covid lockdown laws, Black Lives Matter, women’s rights, divisive government policies, and more.

I remember, at one point, someone asking me what I thought Jesus would say to the protestors. It felt like a question that was supposed to draw an opinion about what I thought Jesus’ view would be on the different issues being raised and who was wrong and who was right.

What came to mind though – after a considerable pause – wasn’t an opinion but an image: I saw Jesus walking up alongside the raging crowd of thousands, hearing their voices and the intensity of their message, and placing a hand on the chest of a man and saying, ‘Peace.’ The man was yelling, the man was crying for a solution, and Jesus gently said, ‘Peace.’

I think what Jesus offers us in a world gone mad is peace.

Yes, there are causes worth fighting for and rights to be vocalised, but there are also fears to be alleviated and priorities to be reordered. When our hearts are at peace, I think God offers us the ability to distinguish between the two.

The peace Jesus offers us isn’t one that promises perfection or the abolishment of heartache. It’s a peace that calms our troubled hearts no matter the validity of what concerns it. It’s a peace that endures and that – unlike worldly peace – isn’t contingent upon circumstance.

Written by LAURA BENNETT