“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” 
2 Thessalonians 3:16

Peace can be hard to come by in this crazy world. 

And if we happen to stumble upon it, the moment it’s within our grasp, it seems to jump right out of our hands and disappear yet again. So, is it really possible to find a peace that can endure through all of life’s trials?

Absolutely, at least Paul thinks so.  

As he wraps up his letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul prays a beautiful benediction over his readers.  Notice that he doesn’t pray for them to merely have an intellectual understanding of peace. No, he prays for them to experience real peace in the middle of real life. Because right now, the Thessalonians are facing real challenges. 

Not only is there strife among the members of the church, but they are also experiencing all kinds of “persecutions and trials” from the surrounding community (2 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 3:6). In other words, they are dealing with both internal and external stress at the same time. Sound familiar?

Life’s challenges are complex. Adversity can come at us from a thousand simultaneous directions. It’s often not just one difficulty that robs us of peace but the combination of several difficulties at once.

But notice what Paul does. Instead of praying for their circumstances to change, he prays for God to do what only He can do, and that is “give them peace at all times and in every way.”   

According to Paul, this kind of peace isn’t natural, it’s Supernatural. It comes from only one place: the Lord of peace, Himself, Jesus Christ.  

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus told His followers, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives” (John 14:27). Notice that Jesus distinguished between His peace and the peace of the world, indicating there are fundamental differences.  

Worldly peace is the absence of conflict. The peace of Christ is in the presence of Jesus. 

Worldly peace is based on our circumstances. The peace of Christ is rooted in His unchanging character. 

Worldly peace is momentary. The peace of Christ endures beyond the grave.

Please don’t misunderstand. The peace of Christ doesn’t mean that we’ll never struggle with anxiety, discouragement, fear, etc.  Not true! 

However, when the peace of Christ takes over someone’s life, negative emotions may rise, but they will not reign. Author Rick Renner explains it well-

“When a person is dominated by peace, he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully, even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be very nerve-wracking, traumatic, or upsetting…Rather than allowing the difficulties and pressures of life to break him/her, a person who is possessed by peace is whole, complete, orderly, stable, and poised for blessing.”  

If we want the kind of peace that “endures at all times and in every way,” we must stay close to Jesus.

C.S. Lewis once said, “God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there.” Lewis then likens God’s presence to a fire. He continues, “If we want to stay warm, we draw near the fire…If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to the thing that has them.”

Perhaps peace often eludes us because we gradually drift away from His fire.   

Whatever happens today, in situations big and small, draw near to Jesus and ask Him to give you His peace once again.  

Whisper this prayer: “Jesus, right now, I need you to give me peace at all times and in every way. Amen.” 

Written by Jonathan Munson, Executive Director, RFTH

DIG DEEPER
Read “Want to Find Peace?” by Bryant Wright