Are you ready for some good news?
Before humanity’s fall into sin, the world enjoyed perfect peace with God. Human rebellion broke that peace and left the human race in turmoil with one another and within each soul. But God loves to restore. Christ came to restore peace.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” (John 14:27, ESV)
“…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, ESV)
There is a conflict in the human soul between “peace that passes understanding” and “peace that comes with understanding.”
If you see a person full of peace who has just received a good health report, has just learned how well his children are doing, and received a nice promotion at work, you can understand it. But if you see a person full of peace who has received a bad health report or bad news about their loved ones or has just lost his job, you can’t understand it.
We can understand peace when all is going well. But peace during a storm is a different matter.
My flesh nature always prefers the peace that comes with understanding. I yearn for the kind of peace that comes when I know that the kids are fine, the wife is happy, the bank account is full, the church is thriving, and I’ve completed my important work. And I have days like that – on occasion. But, as we all know, most days aren’t so easy.
Life is a battle and every day is touched by the rampage. This broken world offers us conflicts and disappointments and unfulfilled longings at every turn. The kind of peace that the world gives (the peace that comes with understanding) is fragile and fleeting. God came in Christ to restore peace so deeply that the mind need not comprehend it. The deep peace that Jesus restores is a spiritual impartation of inner bliss knowing for sure that God has so redeemed your life that you are forever His and He has your best in mind at every moment.
Your fleshly self will object, but your life will be forever altered if you make it your soul’s aim to apprehend (and live in) the peace of Christ that passes understanding. It is a simple, powerful revelation: “I don’t have to understand how everything is going to be OK in order to know that everything is going to be OK.” God wants to restore your peace. And that’s the Gospel!
