Desperate for Peace

The people who know me are well aware that I am a peace-loving person. Just recently, when a couple of my children were conflicting, I sat them down and told them that I’d rather that my car exploded than have them creating unrest in the house. I was trying to give them something to measure the degree to which I value peace.

It is easy to spot external turmoil. 

Bickering, arguing, and straight up fighting are easy to recognize as unwanted parts of our existence. Some people are geared to seek conflict, but most would prefer that life operated smoothly and harmoniously. Of course, if everyone around me defers to me and gives me exactly what I want, I will have to work hard to battle that. But life generally doesn’t go that way.

I can be consumed with trying to make those around me live at peace. Sounds really spiritual and selfless, doesn’t it? I want an environment consisting of peace, love, and happiness.

I find, sometimes, in this process that I have become Martha (see Luke 10:38-42). I want something good, but it is not wanting best. Sometimes, my good goal becomes the idol of my worship. Luke uses a unique word to describe the condition of Martha’s heart (perispao – which means to be drawn away or over-occupied). Jesus, in addressing Martha, uses two additional ways to describe Martha’s heart condition (merimnao – to be troubled with care; thorubadzo – to be disturbed; to be troubled in mind). Martha’s good intention had become her very undoing.

We are plagued by internal turmoil.

Three New Testament bible writers speak specifically about our inner turmoil (Paul, James, and Peter). Both James and Peter speak about lustful passions that are warring against us (James 4:1 and 1 Peter 2:11 – they use the word strateuomai [we get strategy from this word]). Our passions often work against us. We are focused on the external turmoil, and, all the while, we are churning inwardly.

I need to remember that I cannot effectively aid external peace in my environment if I am “drawn away” or “troubled” internally. Jesus reminds us that we are unable to serve “two masters” (Matt. 6:24). Jesus also masterfully spoke of the “cares of the world … chok(ing) the word” (Matt. 13:22).

When Paul speaks about this inner turmoil (Galatians 5:16-17), he is making us aware that in our pursuits to walk in harmony with the Spirit, our inner man will often present obstacles to this harmony. If I do what comes naturally, I will be walking in opposition to the working of the Holy Spirit. We can feel within us what makes us happy; yet our Savior laid His own desires down (“For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.’” [Romans 15:3, ESV]).

As external turmoil arises, I must address the growing conflict within me. 

God uses the external trouble to reveal the troubles of my own heart. It is precisely at these points that I need to humble myself before God and to be “casting all (my) anxieties on Him, because He cares for (me)” (1 Pet. 5:6, 7). It is at this time that I need to take to heart Paul’s injunction to the Philippians: “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7) In doing so, it is no longer about me establishing peace outside, but God producing true peace within me.

When God’s peace is presiding over my heart, I am able to navigate toward peace with those nearby.

It is no longer about producing the kind of peace I need for my happiness, but instead it is a genuine concern for the needs of others. Paul speaks of Timothy as one who “will be genuinely concerned for your welfare” (Phil. 2:20). Timothy was unique in this regard. It is interesting to note that the word “concerned” is the same term Jesus charged Martha with (merimnao). However, here it is not about anxiety for accomplishing Martha’s plans, but about the need of those to whom Timothy would be ministering.

God can so superintend our spirit with His peaceful Holy Spirit that we can be at rest with Him even in the midst of an environment riddled with chaos.

Dear Father, I am in desperate need of Your peace. I struggle to insist upon it. I, at times, idolize an environment of peace. Father, help me to be, by Your amazing, divine Spirit, peace. May Your peace rule my heart. May Your peace be seen in me. May Your peace be shared through me. In the name of Your matchless Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.