The Principle of Peace
The wind raged through the night, rattling our windows so hard I thought they would break. We had no warning and no time to prepare, and I wondered if there’d be anything left in our yard the following morning. It’s hard to sleep when everything around you is raging, but there was something peaceful about being wrapped in the comfort of the blankets of my bed.
We live above 5000 feet, and there’s nothing we can do but ride out weather events that can change quickly. Last week we had blue skies, then rain, then snow, then back to blue skies all in one day! When storms rage, our human instinct is to seek shelter, not just from the weather, but also from the storms of life. When tragedy, illness, pain, or suffering strikes, it can feel like a storm is raging around us and all we want is to crawl under the covers and hide.
Easter is the time we celebrate not just the resurrection of Christ, but what His death on the cross accomplished—peace.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” – John 3:36
“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” – 1 Thessalonians 1:10
Jesus’s death on the cross satisfied God’s righteous judgment, creating peace between God and man. When we believe is Christ, we enter into God’s peace and are forever sheltered from His wrath. But God did not stop there!
In God’s loving grace, he also provided a way for us to have peace from the storms of life. The storms of life will come, but we can weather them from the comfort of God’s peace by entering the shelter He provided—Trust. When we truly trust God, no matter what the storm brings, we can have peace.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.Proverbs 3:5-6.
When we trust God and His sovereign plan for our life, we have peace in the storm. No storm can overtake us when we trust God and rest in the shelter of his peace. But trusting God does not come natural to man. That is why we need to learn to trust God through the storms of life, and we do that in two ways.
1) Learn of God and His Principles through His Word.
2) Apply those principles to every part of our life before the storms come.
The more we study and apply, the more we trust God. If we do not experience God’s perfect peace in the storms of life, then we have not learned to trust God. Fear is a red flag that condemns and tells us we have not entered God’s shelter. Don’t wait for the storms of life to overtake you before you learn to trust God.
Because we live in rural Nevada, we have taken great measures to provide for us during the storms that come our way. We installed a generator, an extra water tank, food supplies, etc. When the power goes out, the lights flicker for a second and we peacefully wait, trusting our generator will kick in, and we go back to our normally scheduled program. We prepare for earthquakes before the earthquake comes. Same holds true for all natural disasters. Those who are prepared have nothing to fear.
God’s Word prepares us for the storms of life. If we are not prepared, we frantically run around seeking advice and look for answers in the wrong places. Only God’s Word, when applied, can prepare us. Like a bear entering a cave to weather the winter, we can enter God’s shelter and rest in peace.
God promises that He will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him (Isaiah 26:3) Only those who trust in God with steadfast minds, will enter His perfect shelter of peace.
My prayer for you all is that you will know God’s perfect peace.
