Do you remember when you use to watch some alien movies? How when they landed on Earth and they came out of the ship, the first thing that most people expect them to say is “We come in peace”. This is to show the people of earth that they did not come to make trouble. Also, you have probably seen when someone meets her fiancé’s mother and she says “Our family is a peaceful one. We do not want anyone to come and cause trouble here”. Both illustrations show us basically what people see peace as, the absence of trouble. As much as there are many teachings showing this, many people minds still hinge on it. When people have a bad relationship with someone, they believe that avoiding the person is a form of peace. True peace is not the peace that the world gives. The peace we need is called Shalom.
Shalom means completeness, wholeness, and soundness. This peace does not avoid trouble, it quenches it completely. This means that if a storm is supposed to drown you, you will not drown. Rather, you will walk on water. This peace makes you walk over your troubles. Some people will say “ooh when the riot started I had already passed there. Thank God.” See, even if you were there, this perfect peace got you covered. You will pass through the riot without anything bad happening to you. Are we not to step over serpents and scorpions and nothing shall by any means hurt us? That is the peace we are talking about.
Do you know that we have this peace? If I said to you “This Mercedes car, it is now your own from today.” What would be the sign that I have given it to you? It will be me handing the key over to you. When Jesus said “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give unto” (John 14:27), what is the sign that we have received this peace? The sign is the cross. When Jesus took our sins on the cross, we received peace with God (Romans 5:1). If we have peace with God, then we have the peace of God as well. You cannot have the peace of God if you do not have peace with God. This peace is for believers. It is for those who are in Christ Jesus. No one outside of Christ can have this peace. When Jesus used the word “leave” in John 14:27, it actually means to bequeath. An example of this is when a person leaves his property for his beneficiary by will. A will is activated by death. Christ death activated this perfect peace. The new covenant of grace is the will and God has left his peace with us for all who are under it.
This peace is not based on the number of problems you have. Just because your fellow brother or sister in Christ has more challenges to face than you does not mean you understand what perfect peace is. Perfect peace is not by having an “I do not care” attitude towards problems. Someone asks you about the financial issues you are facing and you say “I do not have any problem” yet all your actions show that you are worrying and you do not know how to deal with it. You may be sounding spiritual but you need Christ peace to deal with it.
Perfect peace is not the absence of problems but rather it is the presence of the power of God to still any storm that arises. There was a certain day that the disciples were in a boat with Jesus and a great storm came (Luke 8:22-25). This storm was a life and death situation. There was water in the boat and they all believed that they were going to die. Whether you look at the book of Luke, Mark or Matthew, they believed they would perish yet Jesus was not moved. He spoke to the storm and it ceased. The disciples looked at him saying to themselves “What manner of man is this?” (V.25). Jesus knew fully who he was. The storm did not change what Jesus believed. He was secured in who he was, the Prince of Peace.
If the disciples were secured in what Jesus had been saying to them and the authority he had given to them, they would have stood in faith but the storm made their faith not to endure. That is why Jesus said, “Where is your faith?” The same thing happened when Goliath spoke to the army of Israel, they became afraid. If they believed that God was for them, any soldier could have killed Goliath. You can defeat any Goliath with what is in your hand as long as you know that God is with you.
Perfect peace is knowing who you are in Christ Jesus and being grounded and secured that truth. The power to handle any problem even life and death situation resides in this. Death can stare you in the face and yet you say with all authority “I shall live, I will not die”. And you will not die. Why? You understand who you are in Christ Jesus. His eternal life flows through you. Financial debt can stare you in the face and yet you say “My profit is coming. In this my labor there is profit. My hands are blessed”.
If challenges make you change your focus to yourself, then you are not conscious of the finished work of Christ. Stop focusing on your old life that has been dealt with on the cross. Be secured 100% in Christ Jesus and not yourself. Look at the word and see your new life in Christ so as to handle all challenges that come your way.