A New Peace
Where do you find your peace? Maybe I should ask where you find your security. Is it in your bank account, investments, family or is it in God? The answer honestly is probably that you find security and peace in all those places. We make bold statements through the songs we sing and the messages we bring on Sunday mornings like, “My hope is in Christ alone.” But in most cases, the truth is, we are torn between finding our sense of worth, our security, and peace in this world and finding it in our Lord. The more we have of the worlds things and its peace, the harder it is to find the greater things and greater peace that Christ offers.
It’s when we find ourselves suddenly thrust into the pain of loss or failure or some other calamity that we suddenly realize that our hope really is in Christ alone. I pray often, not for what I deserve, but for God’s mercy. “Please be merciful to me Lord, I know I need You more than I realize. Help me to stay focused on You”. I’ve had some experiences with calamity and I don’t want my faith, hope, trust, and peace in God to be limited to only one avenue, mainly some type of upheaval or disruption of life that brings me crashing to my knees. I’d much rather voluntarily fall to my knees and ask God to reveal my need for Him. He is so faithful. He loves us so much that uses His shepherd’s staff to pull us back into line when we lose sight of Him. But if we follow closely and keep our eyes on Him, He is merciful.
I’m not saying you won’t have any trouble if you keep your eyes on Jesus. I’m saying that you won’t have to endure the correction of God in addition to the trouble life brings. And His grace will always be sufficient for the trouble life brings. If you practice this kind of fidelity to God when skies are clear, you will have peace when the storms rage.
A new and different type of peace will be our topic this week. You may be surprised at what the beautiful New Covenant offers us if are willing to make a change.