A Piece of Peace
I was blessed to go visit my family in Heber Springs this past weekend. It was great to see everyone and I was able to sit under my Stepmom, Lisa in Sunday School. She has been instrumental in my faith growing up and I love being able to hear her teach from God's word. Her class was beginning studying 2 Peter. I have read this verse before but I feel God used it again (love that His word is ALIVE and ACTIVE) as a sweet reminder of where my peace should come from. Maybe it will for you too.
2 Peter 1:2 states: "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." This might not sound super exciting or revolutionary as it appears to just be a greeting from Peter to fellow believers, but I pray you will see this verse in a fresh light. Peter is saying here that his prayer for these believers is that their grace and peace may be multiplied. This word multiplied means to grow and increase. Who doesn't want more grace and peace? I know I surely do! So how does this grace and peace multiply?
These next few words are crucial. If you struggle with depression, feeling at peace with the situation you are currently in or fear to be in soon, this is for you. If you need grace to deal with a difficult person, job, or stage in your life, this is for you. Even if you feel you have it all together and are in a peak so to speak in life, this is for you. Grace and peace are multiplied in the knowledge of God. Boom! :)
Sorry if that felt anticlimactic or disappointing. No, there is not some magic prayer or meditation to gain grace and peace. Sitting in pew on Sunday and Wednesday will also not provide the peace we so desperately desire. Truth is it requires work on our part. That work is gaining the knowledge of God. It is a gift and a promise from God but it does depend upon action from us individually. No one can gain peace for me. Psalm 119:165 states "Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble" Isaiah 26:3 declares "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."
These verses are promises from God (there are others as well). We gain peace through the knowledge of His law and His word. How do we gain this knowledge? WE STUDY IT. That's the key. An hour on Sunday and Wednesday is not enough to saturate our thoughts and minds with the goodness of His word. A 5 minute devotional, while may be beneficial to some degree, is not enough to daily battle the temptations and fiery darts of the evil one.
It is time for us to fight. We wouldn't go into a physical war without a weapon, yet we do so everyday that we don't study God's word. The battle is raging and it truly is a battle. Depression, discontentment, anger, sexual immorality, envy, and so many others are rampant not just within the world, but within our churches. This should not be happening. We have what we need in God's words to fight these thoughts and temptations and to live in grace and peace.
Let me get real honest with you right now. If we as believers in Jesus for our salvation are not at peace, it is our fault. I am not saying it won't be hard or that it won't be a daily battle where some days we lose, but overall peace should win in our life. We need an honest heart check here. We need to ask ourselves if we are prepping for war every day. Are we putting as much importance on God's word in our life as we do sports, tv, work, social media, or other extra curricular activities?
If you are struggling with feeling peace in your life right now, turn to the Word of God. It is active and alive and does not return void. Isaiah 55:11 says this "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;it shall not return to me empty,but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." God's promises are good y'all. He desires us to be at peace. Don't confuse this with a cushy life with no problems. That is never promised (actually quiet the opposite). But He does say knowledge in His word will bring peace and not just peace, but multiplied peace. Peace that spills into the lives of those around us. What a beautiful picture. What amazing things would happen in our circles of influence if we truly had peace multiplying in our lives.
On a side note. I ran into this situation this week; I told someone I would pray for peace for them. God convicted me of that because like I mentioned above, it isn't some magic prayer or meditation that just happens to fall on us. Now, my prayer for those who are in a difficult situation is that they would turn to God's word to infiltrate the deepest parts of their pain so it can be a soothing balm to their hearts. May we all turn to God's word on a deeper level to receive His blessings and promises of multiplied grace and peace. I love you all. Till next time.