Elusive Peace

" Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1)

" You've heard the stories. You've read the message in the pages. You consider the crucifixion: Is it fact or fiction . . . Did He really appear like they say that He did? Does it conquer the fear? Did He die so that we could live? You'd like to think that it's true. But you want to hold the intangible. To fashion the darkness into familiar shape. You see with your eyes. To know in your mind. Oh ye of so little faith. Only the heart can hold the intangible. There is a chamber in the soul of the believer. It holds reason in defiance. The demanding hand of science may not enter. But let's just suppose how it would be to trade all you know for one ounce of true belief. Then you would learn the peace of that place."

These words by Billy Sprague and Wayne Kirkpatrick describe the outlook of many people within our society who are desperately longing for peace. Perhaps more than at any other time in world history, people are searching for an inner peace that seems particularly elusive. These unsettling times have exposed a gaping hole within the hearts of so many people where peace belongs yet is not found. In an effort to fill that void, people will turn to various alternatives for peace. Some trust in riches or knowledge or the government or the military. Still others trust in friends and family. But all of these have the potential to fail us at some time or another. There is only one thing that can bring lasting peace and that is a relationship with the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

You cannot buy peace. Peace cannot be wrapped up in a nice, neat package and tucked away in your file cabinet or bank account. Peace is intangible. And "only the heart can hold the intangible." Peace belongs in that chamber of the heart that is reserved for just such a resident. Those who have faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior have filled that chamber with peace.

Everyone wants peace, especially in times like these. But it is simply impossible to do so apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Are you searching for that true, lasting inner peace today? Let me encourage you to imagine for a moment what it would be like to "trade all you know for one ounce of true belief." Let me encourage you to reach out for Christ in simple faith, trusting Him to love you and forgive you and give you the gift of eternal life. If you will do that then, and only then, you will learn what true peace is really all about.

J.B. Hixson, Th. M., Associate Pastor
Grace Bible Church of Houston,
www.gbchouston.org
jb@hixson.org