Meditations on The Fruit of the Spirit - Peace

Have you ever been so world-weary, so discouraged, that you take comfort in imagining yourself in a far away place?  It’s a beautiful place, where the sun shines and flowers grow.  In this place, nothing bad can reach you; no one can find or harm you.  Here you can pray to God for hours, without the distraction of life’s cares and the world’s wickedness.  It’s a place of absolute peace - peace with God, and peace with man.

Maybe by now you realize the place I’m describing is the garden God planted in Eden.  This is the peaceful setting God intended for man and woman to enjoy when He created them. This was the world when the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil hung untouched and undesired.

And then, with a breach of faith and a rejection of all God had offered, sin closed the gates to that garden. Every generation since has had the opportunity to choose God over sin, and every generation has failed.  Just a few generations after the Garden, in the days of Noah, how evil people had become - how little peace was left on the earth!  Genesis describes a people so corrupt they only thought of evil, all day long, and God decided to start over. And as the first citizens of the refreshed world, Noah and his sons, fell to sin, we realize the peace available in the Garden or anywhere here on earth had become impossible.

The history we’re given in the Old Testament is a world of conflict and war.  God tried again to take his people to a Land of Promise, where they could live in peace and prosperity and be an example of His wisdom to the rest of the world.  The land would be flowing with milk and honey, with grain and oil, they would be healthy and prosper, and He would be with them and guide them. While God kept His promise to give them the land, their choice to reject Him brought enemies and chaos and captivity. God reminded them in Isaiah 48:18, “Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments, then your peace would have been as a river and your righteousness as waves of the sea.”

Still, in the darkest of times, God did not forsake His children or His promise. He says in Isaiah 54:10, “My steadfast love shall not depart from you - and My covenant of peace shall not be removed.”  One would be born who would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

That One, Jesus Christ, has made peace with God possible through the gift of His life to redeem us: “For He himself is our peace, Who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility…And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph 2:14-18). We are no longer held outside of the garden, outside of the veil, away from God’s fellowship. Now, here on earth, we can know peace - peace with God, and peace with man.

This peace with God is always bound tightly to obedience and righteousness.  In Isaiah, God promises the King who will rule in righteousness. He says, “Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field and the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever” (Isaiah 32:16-17). 

This essay on peace is the third in a series of articles I’m writing as some friends and I study the Fruit of the Spirit.  As I’m writing this, in December, it’s the time of year when the world in general rejoices in the birth of Jesus and the peace He brought to the world.  But in Matthew 10:34, Jesus warns that He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword. Peace through Christ comes at the cost of cutting away any person or thing that would keep me from giving myself wholly to God and His will. While I'm happy that any time of year causes people to focus even a little on the grace and love of God in Christ, I know this version of peace and joy will be short-lived and empty.  If I believe that I can continue to seek my own desires without obedience and devotion to the Prince of Peace, then January will still bring conflict and despair, and whatever peace I thought I possessed will evaporate.

Going back to the original context of these articles, Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, the Christians there were in the middle of conflict brought on by turning away from the pure gospel of Christ. As they turned toward keeping the old law, the works that have always brought condemnation became a part of their relationship with each other.

Paul admonishes them. Pay attention to this list and you will recognize the actions of the world around us every day: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  He continues, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace….” (Gal 5:19-23).

For peace to become a fruit or outcome of the Spirit in me, I need to understand its value, its cost, and its power. I must spend time in the Word, learning what God was willing to do to bring me back into peace with Him. I must worship Him who can calm the sea with His words, “Peace, be still.” I must “turn away from evil and do good;” I must “seek peace and pursue it.”

(1 Peter 3:11).  Only then will I be at peace even in life’s storms. Only then, can this peace bring a blessing to my relationships. 

In this peaceful “place” I am safe and at rest. The world may look in wonder, and perhaps the example in my life can offer them the chance for this same comfort:  “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).

As I studied and meditated on this lesson for our women’s Bible study, the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” became the soundtrack in my mind.  I close with these words:

“When peace like a river attends my way; when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, You have taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed his own blood for my soul.

My sin - O the bliss of this glorious thought - my sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall descend!  Even so, it is well with my soul.”