Deep Peace

Jesus came to bring peace. Yet Jesus wants no lesser peace to take the place of true and lasting peace. Unless the drug use stops, how can their be peace for the drug user or peace for the family? Unless the affairs stop, how can their be peace in the marriage? But all too often we grab hold of a lesser peace and we don’t rock the boat. Rather than having the courage to speak the truth in love, we hold our peace and prevent real peace from entering in.

We can allow old wounds to be healed in this way. You get hurt by someone, but instead of dealing with the hurt and resolving the issues, you just act as if nothing happened. Then things heal over on the surface. But it’s like a stabbing wound where the outer flesh heals, but underneath infection takes hold, and when it finally erupts, things will be much worse.

Is God using this short reflection to speak to your heart? Perhaps there is a way you need to speak the truth in love. When you do so, it may divide a household two against three or mother against daughter. But if God is speaking this truth to your heart, you may be being led from a lesser peace to true and lasting peace.

The cost is high. So high in fact that most of us shrink back and become lesser men and women. We let coworkers steal from the company, friends cheat on their spouses, brothers fall deeper into drug use. We do all of this to keep the peace. But instead we are simply trading a lesser peace for the deep peace Jesus wants. Is there some lesser peace you need to confront in order to get to the deeper, pasting peace that Jesus has for you.

Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor