Obtaining Peace: Creation

 

Peace 10

 

          In this section of our blog series on peace we are examining eight different ways the Bible tells us we can obtain peace. With this post we come to one that has ministered to me most deeply, the beauty of God’s creation. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness (Psalm 72.3). It may well be that there is in this passage some prophetic connection with the Millennial reign of Christ on Mount Zion. I can see signs of that. But I do not think it takes away from my point here. God’s creation pours peace into the battered soul.
          When God made man He did not place him in a city; He placed him in a garden. It was man that built the first city, specifically Cain. It is almost as if having lost so much of what God had originally designed with his father Adam and his brother Abel, he decided to reinvent things. Ergo, lets thrust man on top of each other and call it good.

          I do not believe cities are intrinsically evil. God Himself loves the city of Jerusalem, and will create a New Jerusalem in the end. But I do know from long experience that cities produce frantic schedules, crowded sidewalks, clogged intersections, a haste for riches, and endless miles of asphalt, concrete, brick, and glass. The stores are open twenty-four hours in the cities. Industry runs full bore in the cities. Music thumps from passing cars loud enough to rattle the dishes. There is endless hustle and bustle, running to and fro. Rudeness multiplies in the city. 

          Some of my perspective here is perhaps colored for me by Meniere’s disease and its side effects, and how difficult it became for me toward the end in Chicago. But some of it is just fact. It is not impossible to live in peace in a city for peace is largely a matter of the heart, but it is more difficult. The psalmist said, Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46.10). There is precious little opportunity to be still in the city, to be quiet. There is almost no chance of serene contemplation. You can cultivate a spirit of inner stillness but it is not the same. At the least it is not near as simple.

          I am a deep believer in setting your eyes upon something God made. It causes us to reflect upon His majesty and sovereignty. It reminds us of how big He is, of how powerful He is, of how eternal He is. It reminds us that when all is said and done the kerfuffle of events will fade and He will still be. Thou remainest (Hebrews 1.11).

          God has been good to bring me deep peace in such ways. I have laid in the black night on the greensward, with nary an electric light in miles, and feasted my eyes on the prodigal jewels of Heaven we call the stars. I have felt the ocean mist on the morning breeze, and heard the surf break on both sides of the continent. I have breathed deep of the scented pines of the northwest. I have craned my eyes skyward beholding the behemoths of the Rockies. I have been surprised by sudden waterfalls springing out of the jungle as the remnants of a hurricane passed through. I have watched the sun come up over the Great Lakes with my young son sitting beside me. I have stood in the desert as the dry wind sucked the moisture out of my lungs, and watched the tumbleweeds whirl by. I have seen some of what God has made and it is good.

          In God’s great goodness, he has brought me at last to live in what is truly one of the beautiful places in our country. Eagles and hummingbirds and turkeys and deer vie for my attention from my deck. Old Man River, the mighty Mississippi rolls merrily on just a few hundred feet from my home. Scores of miles of trails crisscross the county. Rainbows, produced by the rise of vapor up the bluffs along the river, grace the evening sky often. I live in what God has made and it is good. I weep, I praise Him, and I am at peace.

          Do you long for sweet peace? Is your soul a tumbling tumult of noise and uproar? Find something God made, where nothing of man intrudes. Stand there or sit there or lie there or walk there. Stay a good long while. Put your phone away. Listen to the wind, the birds, the creak of the trees and the rustle of their leaves, the play of the brook over the smooth stones. Drink deep of God’s creation, and be at peace.

Obtaining Peace: Fellowship

 

Peace 9

 

          God does not command us to live in peace without giving us the wherewithal to do so. He gives us the strength and grace to do so, yes, but He also tells us how to do so all through the Scriptures. So far in this series we have looked at three of them. We obtain peace by asking Him. We obtain peace by knowing Him. We obtain peace by trusting Him. In today’s post, we will discover that we can also obtain peace by fellowship with His people.

          The sweet psalmist of Israel went through several seasons of deep suffering. One of those periods he endured as an older, mature king. His son, Absalom, rebelled against his rule, subverted his chief counsellors, stole the hearts of his followers, and led the nation to into perversity and revolt. Through the support of a gracious God, and the loyalty of a few reliable retainers, David was restored to his throne. Betrayed by so many of his friends, attacked by his enemies, bereft of his son, a heartbroken but triumphant David penned Psalm 55. Amongst other gems, he gives us this precious statement of thanksgiving. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me (Psalm 55.18).

          I am a huge believer in spending time with God’s people. It is both commanded and exemplified all over the New Testament. While I maintain active and purposeful relationships with numbers of lost people, all of my friends are drawn from the brethren. I sit with them. I talk with them. I eat with them. I go to church with them. I laugh with them. I host them at Saint’s Rest. It is not wrong to say that I live my life among the community of the saints.

          I find many things in such community. I find accountability. If I am struggling, the people who know me well will both notice and call me on it. I find encouragement. The world is not our friend. It pushes against everything we hold dear and promotes that which we find abhorrent. It is often a lonely task indeed to be a Christian. Or it would be, if it were not for the assembly of God’s people. I find modeling and mentoring here too, living, breathing lessons of what I ought to be and can be as I follow on to know the Lord.

          I also find peace.

          As a pastor for twenty-four years, it has fallen to me to perform many funerals. Some of those funerals have been for people I did not know at all, people who died without a church and without a pastor, sometimes even without the Lord. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have also performed many funerals for people who not only knew Him, but loved Him and loved His people down here on Earth.

The difference between those funerals is stark. At the former, there is a strained effort to hold back despair, closed faces afraid of contemplating their own mortality and what it means. The atmosphere is cold and lifeless, and the moment the ceremony is over people flee for the supposed sanctuary of their secure little world.

          The Christian funerals of those who loved God and His church are a complete and utter contrast. There is joy. There are tears, yes, but they are sweet tears. There is emotional support. There is laughing as we recall precious memory after precious memory. There is the sheer delight of looking forward to Heaven. Such events are more rightly named a celebration than a funeral, a celebration of a life well lived, a celebration of the present Heaven, and a celebration of the reunion to come on that great day.

          The former had precious little if any fellowship with God’s people. Not surprisingly, there is precious little if any peace at their funeral.

          Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the 20^th century’s premier British preacher, referred to his church once as a preaching station. He bemoaned the numbers who flooded in to hear him orate, but refused to become an integral part of the actual church assembled there. I share that frustration with him as the technology and events of our day have only exacerbated the problem. I am weary of God’s people feeding their desire for God’s Word on YouTube preachers. I am indescribably frustrated with couch church, so much so that I stopped our church’s internet stream whole cloth, pandemic or no pandemic. 

          God did not design the Christian life to be lived in isolation; He designed it to be lived in community. He designed us to be together, to assemble. So get off the couch and go. Go early. Stay late. Force yourself to stick around and fellowship with God’s people. Open your heart and life to those around you. Laugh with them. Weep with them. Put your shoulder to the wheel with them. Love them. Serve them. Allow them, in turn, to minister to you.

          Like David, you will be in a battle someday. Like David, you will discover who your real friends are. I am convinced that when/if that battle comes to my life I will find hundreds and hundreds of sincere people at my side, ministering grace and comfort and counsel and support. I have built those relationships over time, with time. I have refused the alluring ease of isolation. Consequently, I am not alone. I am rich in relationships. And amongst all the other blessings that come here, there is a wealth of peace. 

Drink deep and long and often from the well of fellowship. And you will find peace. 

Obtaining Peace: Trust Him

 

Peace 8

 

          If you are looking for peace you came to the right place. No, I do not mean my blog. I mean the Word of God. It gives us numerous ways or means or avenues to obtain peace. Two weeks ago, we saw that we can obtain peace by asking God for it. Last week, we found that we can obtain peace by knowing Him. Today, we will see that we can find peace by trusting Him. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee (Isaiah 26.3).

          Peace is a precious commodity. It keeps our hearts and souls unruffled during times of uncertainty, confusion, doubt, struggle, and conflict. Peace does not change the external circumstances that swirl around us but it does change how we view those circumstances. When peace rules in our heart our perspective on the events of the day and of our lives is calm even when these events are not calm.

In Mark 4 we find one of the stories that combines faith and peace. Jesus, weary from His work, falls asleep in a ship on the Sea of Galilee. Storms rise quickly on that shallow sea as cold air flows down suddenly across its surface from the mountains along the northern edge. Such a storm arose that mightily disturbed the Apostles but disturbed Jesus not at all. In frantic desperation, they finally wake Him up, shouting at Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? His answer is classic. Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? This kind of peace is a byproduct of faith. Peace is not achieved by pursuing peace; it is attained by trusting in our Heavenly Father. This is precisely what Isaiah is saying as well. Let me give you a brief explanation of the context, followed by two thoughts of application.

          When Isaiah 26 opens the prophet is referencing a future deliverance from Babylon. He has just been discussing this in the previous chapter, Isaiah 25. In that day [of deliverance from Babylon] shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks (Isaiah 26.1). Centuries later, both Jeremiah and Zechariah would point to Isaiah’s prophecy here in reference to Babylon.

          Open ye the gates [the gates of Jerusalem, opened up now for the people of the city to return after their deliverance from Babylon by Jehovah] That the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength: For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; The lofty city, he layeth low; [Babylon] even to the ground; He bringeth it even to the dust (Isaiah 26.2-5).

          I see here two works – our work and His work. What is our work? To rest our mind on Him, whose mind is stayed on thee, stayed here meaning lean, rest, or support. When a weary Moses could no longer hold the rod of God aloft in His hands God’s people began to lose the battle. Tragedy would have resulted had not Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun (Exodus 17.12). Moses was supported by and rested on Aaron and Hur.

Implicit in the idea of the word stayed is dependence upon something or someone else. As I write this on Sunday afternoon, I am sitting on a chair at my dining room table. My weight is comfortably settled in the chair. Solidly constructed from oak, Mandy and I purchased this table and chairs twenty years ago. I know by long experience I can depend on this chair. That is faith. Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee.    

          God is in the dependence business. He is constantly seeking to encourage and build our dependence upon Him. I began that process when I first depended upon Him for my salvation. Not coincidentally, I got my first dose of peace then. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5.1). Mary Magdalene is a precious example of this. Tormented by the townspeople, tormented by her conscience, she found her first peace when she found faith in and dependence on Christ. And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace (Luke 7.50).

          Since there is then this direct correlation between faith and peace the more I rest in Him the more peace I possess. Put another way round, show me a lack of peace in a heart and mind and I will show you a lack of faith somewhere.

          It is not my job to produce the peace in my heart. It is not even my job to pursue peace in my heart. It is my job to pursue dependence and faith. That is my work. As I lead my family, as I pursue my vocation, as I play, as I rest, in the grind of my day to day life I must keep my mind stayed on Him. In financial pressure, in relationship difficulty, in ill health, in seasons of distress and grief, in the trials of life I must keep my mind stayed on Him. That is my work.

          What is His work? Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. As I write this, President Biden occupies the Oval Office. His work is the administration of the country. The Secret Service’s work is to keep the president safe. Keep means to watch or guard. I do not do the watching and guarding of my peace; He does. I do the staying of my mind on Him, depending on Him in faith. His work is to watch over me.

          There is great peace in knowing I am in His keeping. When my children were little, how precious it was to put them to bed. To dress them in their warm pajamas, snuggle them under the covers, play a silly game or two with them, sing them the family lullaby, pray with them, turn their music on, shut the light off, walk out of the room, and listen as their even breathing signaled how fast they fell asleep. Is that not the child’s prayer? “Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep.”

          A lamb needs to gain a pound a day the first hundred days of its life. The only way it can do that is if it has access to quiet/clear water, good pasturage, and extensive time to browse. Does the lamb protect itself? No, the shepherd does – and when the lamb is convinced it has nothing to fear from wolves, hawks, or even annoying pests it grows. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters (Psalm 23.1-2).

          I want to be that lamb. I want to grow. I want the peace that passeth all understanding to keep my heart and mind. But that peace is His work. I cannot chase that peace. What I can chase, what I can pursue, what I can work on is trusting God.

          How can you obtain peace? Stay your mind on Him, trust in Him, this is your work. He will deliver the peace.  

Obtaining Peace: Knowing Him

 

Peace 7

 

          Last week, we looked at the first means of obtaining peace, namely, asking God for it. Today, I offer you another thought. The peace of God comes when we get to know God. Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace (Job 22.21). Eliphaz was wrong about much of what he told Job but he was not wrong about this. There is a direct link between God and peace. If I know Him, I have some measure of peace. If I get to know Him better, I will have a greater measure of peace. The more I acquaint myself with Him the more I will be at peace.

          This is not just a mystical/ethereal idea either. The word “acquaint” in this passage in the original language means to run into danger with. It carries the idea behind it that I know this person so well I am comfortable or confident facing battle with them. They are capable. They are loyal. They are dependable. If you have ever watched Band of Brothers you will understand what I am talking about. By the end of the war, they had been through training, D-Day, Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge together. They had crossed the Rhine and taken Berchtesgaden. Their trust in each other was founded on months of ferocious combat, in all kinds of terrain, in all kinds of weather, in all kinds of situations. They knew what each man in Easy Company was capable of. They knew their captain was the epitome of a good leader. And there was great peace of mind in that.

          Paul gave us a similar idea in Philippians 3.10. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection. To know God is to have confidence in Him. The better I know Him the more confidence I will have in Him. And the more confidence I have in Him the more peace I will have as well.

          God does not scatter peace willy-nilly like lightning bolts out of the blue. He tells us in Scripture how to obtain it.

First, ask Him for it.

Second, get to know Him.