Still Waters (Peace)

The Lord, our Shepherd, leads us by still waters; may we not fight him, resist him, or in pride and preoccupation, shun his gracious invitation. Like Mephibosheth who was invited by king David from the pasture-less lands of Lo-debar to the city of peace (Jerusalem) to dine with the king, may we come with humility and gratitude. The Lord invites us to sit and take rest by the still waters of peace and to soak in their calming effect. His invitation reaches down into our striving and unrest and calls us to his royal palace. The King invites us to peace.

You’ve likely experienced the sensation of having peace ripped from your heart’s hold only to be left with the vacuous hollow of dismay. It’s an ugly feeling. The Lord indeed speaks peace to us, his people, but we at times return to our foolish ways and end up finding our hearts unsettled.⁴ Yes, we may at times be the culprit of our distress. Or we may find the whispers of the enemy too strong to resist, and succumb to the flight-enfeebling fibs of the fowler.⁵ Satan is both a thief and a liar. But in our distress, the Lord in his goodness, frees us to fly again and restores our sin-stressed souls. We only need come to our Father, submitting to his truth and resisting the lies of the devil.

His peace is our guard against life’s angst and anxieties, and this peace is activated, assigned to guard duty you could say, through prayer. Just as the disciples called out to the Peace-giver at sleep in the bow of their storm-tossed boat, so we call out, not with fear, but through prayer, petition, and thanksgiving, knowing that God’s promise holds true — his peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. We need a peace that confronts our understanding, surpassing it, rising above it, for the mind is anxiety’s doorway to the heart. And this peace is supernatural; it is not sourced in our understanding — it comes from the Prince of Peace. So call on him in your day of trouble.⁶ He is sure to answer.

A walk through the woods is bound to get dirt on your hiking boots, and the effects of sin and suffering will try to cling to your soul as you walk through your day. But we wear the gospel shoes of peace and that peace is to protect us from the dirtying effects that come from living in a sin-stained world. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This peace is good news, and good news is meant to be shared. God offers peace in your trials. You may not have experienced the same suffering that another person has experienced, but you have the good-news peace of God and that is a gift worth sharing. All of us need to be reminded that God brings salvation through Jesus and that he is the ruling King, the sovereign over all. This is share-worthy.

Is it possible to have peace in the middle of turmoil and conflict? Scripture is clear that it is possible, for God is our refuge in this life. But peace in this life is only half the story, for there is a peace to come, an everlasting peace, where we will dwell in the safety of God’s house forever. For now, we experience a mixture of joy and grief, hope and loss, struggle and smooth sailing, but then — no more death, no more tears, no more mourning or pain. We will have perfect peace. And for now, we can draw on that eternal bank account of perfect peace. When the child is crying, when the job is demanding, when all is raging around us, we can go to our God, our safe place, our place of peace. In his presence is fullness of joy.