Soul Peace

The stunning promise of peace was penned approximately 700 years before the Prince of Peace arrived; and penned in the midst of a battered, disappointed, dysfunctional, sorrow-filled world. Two of the prophets that foretold the coming of this Prince lamented similar problems of their day.

• Isaiah – the degraded political condition of Israel
• Micah – the social ills that sound like things we see on the news today

Micah predicted the fall of the capital of Israel with messages of doom, but then of hope. Reading his Old Testament writings you see the extent to which his nation had fallen, and the lies they lived by despite warnings and pleadings.

 

“Listen to me, you leaders of Israel!

You hate justice and twist all that is right.

You are building Jerusalem

on a foundation of murder and corruption.

You rulers make decisions based on bribes;

you priests teach God’s laws only for a price;

you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid.

Yet all of you claim to depend on the LORD.

“No harm can come to us,” you say,

“for the LORD is here among us.”

Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;

Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins!” Micah 3:9-12

And we thought today’s world was bad….

Micah goes on to warn that their enemy would eventually come to destroy Jerusalem, but in the next breath he promises that a ruler would come from the little town of Bethlehem.

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days…to be their source of peace”. Micah 5:2,5

In the mire of violence and abandonment, a whisper of peace, like a mirage, gives hints of hope.

“He will be called… the Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6

 

As prophesied, that Prince born in Bethlehem, came to buy our peace and later said,

 

“My peace I give to you not as the world gives…” John 14:27

 

It’s beyond this world, it’s incomprehensible!

 

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

(DS) Peace is not sleepy, lethargic passivity. Peace is freedom from anxiety – often in the midst of intensity and pressure. Peace is not the avoidance of risk, stress and tension – that’s just boring life! Peace is the choice to turn from self-reliance, which leads to destructive anxiety, to God-reliance, right in the middle of the high-stakes challenges. That’s where the gusto is – not in avoiding the risks, but in enjoying them with God. What happens when I turn from self-reliance to God under stress?

 

“Do not be anxious…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.” Phil 4:6

 

By taking hold of his precious and magnificent promises, I partake of the divine nature – PEACE. Right in the midst of the battle and intensity …yes peace, beyond comprehension because I just tapped into the divine nature!

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Where in your life do you need to tap into His promise of peace today?