Episode #389 Peace Isn’t The Same as Quiet – Fruit That Grows in Freedom

Hey, friend. Most of us tend to think of peace as something that finally arrives when life settles down. But what if peace was never about waiting for the right circumstances?

Today we're talking about peace in the context of it being a fruit of God's Spirit, not something that we have to fake or manufacture on our own, but something that the Holy Spirit produces in us as we live life with God. It's what we're created for, and it's something that we long for, right? Both to experience and to share with others. And the best news about it is that it's not something that depends on us. The type of peace I'm talking about is wholeness and security that is found in God's presence, and God makes that available to us no matter the storm or the circumstance that we're walking through.

I wanna read for you John 14 verse 27. It says, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

Now, this is Jesus talking, and I find great encouragement in this. For starters, that He's acknowledging that the people He's speaking to that are gonna hold onto these words are likely facing things that can trouble their hearts or cause them to be afraid. And that is true for real life. And the peace that He offers us is His peace, not the way that the world gives, not limited to what only society or the best human wisdom can offer. Instead, it’s a supernatural peace from our Prince of Peace that is given to us, left for us, that we could receive it and walk in it.

As we go through day-to-day life with God, we get to have His peace flourish within us. And so no matter what you're facing today, God can meet you in it, and our Prince of Peace carries peace with Him wherever He goes.

Now, I'm in a loud season of life. I have two young kids, and so I tend to equate peace with quiet. And when I think about this concept, I also equate peace to the thing that happens after the storm ends. When the waters finally become calm, when we're out of that season of difficulty. But that is not the fullness of the type of peace that God offers us.

God's peace meets us in the storm, because we don't have to navigate it alone. God's peace is beyond our own understanding. God's peace is not as the world gives, which is dependent on quiet, or the right circumstances, or the type of relief that we long for.

Years ago, I was wrestling through a difficult season, and I realized that I was thinking about God as the light at the end of my tunnel, going through all of this darkness. And I kept hoping to see the light, that I would get closer and closer to it at the end, right?

But the realization that God brought me in that season, and that He continues to remind me of, is that He is the light in the tunnel. He brings peace into our difficulties so that our hearts don't have to be troubled, and we don't have to live in fear. And so the offer, not from me but from the Lord, for each one of us today is to draw near and receive more of the kind of peace that only He can give us.

And so here's a question I invite you to take to Him:

God, where have I been looking for a lesser peace, like the kind circumstances or the world can offer me? And God, what peace are you offering me instead?

And then talk with God about how you can receive that from Him and walk in it.

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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