XV
Shalom
‘Peace be with you’ he said’ John 20v19
A friend told me the other day of how he and his wife had felt a call from God to move house, uproot, leave their jobs and travel to a new place and devote their lives to a particular mission.
‘We don’t know where we’re going to live...when or how we’re going to do it and what we’re going to do for work...but we know it’s right and we really have peace about it’ he said.
Had I been in his position I may have been panicking...like mad! But, the more I thought about it, the more I knew recognised what he was talking about. It was more than a ‘feeling’ he was describing, but it’s the best word I can use to describe it - from when I have ‘felt’ it.
It’s like a sensation you carry around with you when you know you’re in what God wants you to be in. You’re doing what God wants you to be doing...and despite what’s going on around you or in your life...no matter how many questions or worries you have...you’re ok...because God is in control.
All throughout the scriptures there’s this recognition that there are so many things in our lives that push in exactly the opposite direction to this. Things that unsettle us, intimidate us, and cause us to hide or lose faith. Our work, our jobs, our relationships, the expectations others have on us, those we have on ourselves, the situation we’ve just come from, the circumstances we’re in right now, our futures...
What did my friend have that gave him such peace?
He had Shalom ...the peace of God.
When Jesus appeared to the disciples in John 20 v19 after his crucifixion the first thing he said was ‘Peace be with you’. These disciples were hiding, afraid, uncertain of what lay ahead...and what happened? Jesus appeared among them and said ‘be at peace’. Know the Shalom of God. Know His peace in the midst of all your worries, all your fear, all your anxiety, all your uncertainty. I am here...have peace.
This peace, this Shalom of God comes with the assurance that He is truly in charge. Think what a difference it made to that fearful group of men...what strength and courage it gave them...
Paul told the church Philippi (4 v6) ‘don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything, tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done...then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand...His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus’.
We serve a God who can turn the landscape of our hearts, whatever it may be like at this moment, into an image like the picture above - calm, settled and at peace. Wherever we are today, Jesus desperately wants us to look him in the eyes and hear him say ‘it’s ok...be at peace...I’m in control’.
‘We don’t know where we’re going to live...when or how we’re going to do it and what we’re going to do for work...but we know it’s right and we really have peace about it’ he said.
Had I been in his position I may have been panicking...like mad! But, the more I thought about it, the more I knew recognised what he was talking about. It was more than a ‘feeling’ he was describing, but it’s the best word I can use to describe it - from when I have ‘felt’ it.
It’s like a sensation you carry around with you when you know you’re in what God wants you to be in. You’re doing what God wants you to be doing...and despite what’s going on around you or in your life...no matter how many questions or worries you have...you’re ok...because God is in control.
All throughout the scriptures there’s this recognition that there are so many things in our lives that push in exactly the opposite direction to this. Things that unsettle us, intimidate us, and cause us to hide or lose faith. Our work, our jobs, our relationships, the expectations others have on us, those we have on ourselves, the situation we’ve just come from, the circumstances we’re in right now, our futures...
What did my friend have that gave him such peace?
He had Shalom ...the peace of God.
When Jesus appeared to the disciples in John 20 v19 after his crucifixion the first thing he said was ‘Peace be with you’. These disciples were hiding, afraid, uncertain of what lay ahead...and what happened? Jesus appeared among them and said ‘be at peace’. Know the Shalom of God. Know His peace in the midst of all your worries, all your fear, all your anxiety, all your uncertainty. I am here...have peace.
This peace, this Shalom of God comes with the assurance that He is truly in charge. Think what a difference it made to that fearful group of men...what strength and courage it gave them...
Paul told the church Philippi (4 v6) ‘don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything, tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done...then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand...His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus’.
We serve a God who can turn the landscape of our hearts, whatever it may be like at this moment, into an image like the picture above - calm, settled and at peace. Wherever we are today, Jesus desperately wants us to look him in the eyes and hear him say ‘it’s ok...be at peace...I’m in control’.
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