A Yearning for Peace

Yes, I know that conflict is a fact of life. It is. Unless you’re living as a hermit, you pretty much can’t make it through a single day without experiencing some conflict. 

Right now, there are between forty and fifty wars, or “armed conflicts” as they’re called, going on across the globe. That’s staggering!

But even on a micro-scale, people in their personal lives have so much conflict going on . . . perhaps that’s why there’s such a deep yearning for peace. And yet for many—for most—peace remains so elusive. 

Many can’t even find peace in their own homes. There’s conflict, strife, abuse, divorce. 

But imagine if there could be peace—real peace.

Because Jesus, whether we realize it or not, was and is in the peace business. He said:

“Love your enemy. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” 

Jesus was, and remains, quite the radical. He knows that the only way for peace to break out—between nations, between people—is for one side or the other to stop shooting. For someone to lay down their arms and refuse to fight. For someone to take a stand for peace. For someone to love their enemy, come what may. 

That was always going to be a risky strategy. What if after laying down arms, the other side kept fighting? But that was a risk God Himself was willing to take.

As Romans 5:1 says:

“We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (ERV)

The amazing story of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection is a true story about God laying down arms. It’s about God making peace. It’s about God letting His Son, Jesus, pay the price of justice for our rebellion, so that there can be peace.

Want peace between God and you? It’s only possible through Jesus.

Life Application Questions

• Think back through your day or your week. When was the last time you experienced conflict in your own life? What was it about? How did it affect your day? Could you resolve it?
• Where do you think you might need to lay down your arms? Imagine how that would free you to receive the gift of peace Jesus wants to give you.
• What makes Jesus’s promise of peace in John 14:27 so radical?
• Read Romans 5:1. Have you ever thought about Jesus’s life being a peace-making mission between you and God? Does it shift anything in your understanding of God’s mercy and love for you?