Peace

Photo: Found on Unsplash

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, PEACE..." 

Love and joy are qualities that we generally strive towards in life, but peace is one that doesn't seem as intuitive. When the world is crumbling around us, how do we find peace? When we've had a completely stress-filled time at work, how do we calm ourselves?

On the surface, the answer is pretty straightforward. God gives us peace -  and so, when we trust in God, we can find peace. Yet, being aware of this fact doesn't necessarily change anything - I'm pretty good at trusting myself more than I trust God. And when that happens, I rarely find peace.

Happily,  God is very aware that humans need to be reminded where peace comes from: there are 470 references to it in the Bible. And I've discovered, looking at a few of them, that peace is not just a spiritual gift. It's one of God's greatest attributes:

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you." - 2 Thessalonians 3: 16

In our modern culture, and around the world, peace is highly sought after,  but can often feel like a distant dream. Big picture; our world is broken; divided; at war. And closer to home - our country is struggling; people on our doorstep are stifled by worry, fear, poverty. In our own lives we are bombarded with news stories that evoke a sense of unrest. The cost of living is ever increasing and even our social media feeds can cause additional pressure of how we should act, look and feel.

In the middle of this is a God who doesn't just like the idea of peace, but provides us with it. And God doesn't just provide a vague concept of peace, but also embodied peace, in Jesus: 

"His name will be called ... Prince of Peace" - Isaiah 9:6

Knowing that this is such a key attribute of God means that the gift of peace is a pretty incredible one to receive. When we are given the gift of peace - we gain something of the character of the one that created us. And we can stand firm in the knowledge that this peace is much more lasting than any we can attempt to muster up ourselves.

Of course, the reality is less straightforward than simply waiting for peace to fill us. It requires a little more effort. A little more stepping outside of our schedules to be still. To let go of our priorities; to tap into God's.

And most importantly, to trust in something bigger than ourselves. To trust in the God who created us.

This means that peace can be a tricky one to harness. But the best thing about these fruit of the spirit is that they don't depend on our circumstances to be 'just right'. We don't even need to be 100% confident in our trust. We just need to be prepared to try. To stop, to be still, and to allow the God of peace to be our priority.

The fruit of peace is true nourishment for our souls. 

This is the fourth blog in a series on the Fruit of the Spirit. Follow the series by the label "The Gifts".