“PEACE TO ALL of you that are in Christ” (1 Pet. 5:14). This may seem a mere greeting as we say, “Salaam,” “Peace” in India. But it may mean more; it may mean that all those who are in Christ have peace. Note the “all.” Is being in Christ to be in a state of peace? Is it a special peace, different from anything the world calls peace? Yes. Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Is there a peace called “my peace”? Is it different, profoundly different, from the psychological peace called “peace of mind”? Yes.
A friend, deeply disturbed, had an operation in which a portion of the front part of his brain, the troubled part, was severed. He now has peace of mind, but it is the peace of indifference. That is one kind of peace—peace at a price of personality. Another kind of peace is the peace of tranquilizers—a deadening of disturbed centers with drugs. This too is peace—at a price—the price of aliveness. There is the peace of stimulants. A chaplain said he could not preach unless he had a drink of liquor beforehand. This is peace—the peace of a false world of stimulation. Another is the peace of mental assertion that there is nothing to fear. This is peace—the peace of illusion. Another is the peace that comes from remembering that a reward in heaven awaits. This is the peace of “pie in the sky.” Then there is the peace of Christ. It is a peace of adequacy, a peace of assurance that you are adequate for anything, for you can not only bear everything, but can use everything that comes—good, bad, or indifferent. This is the peace without illusions. It says pain, sorrow, sickness, and death are real. There is a reality within that faces this reality without and transforms it into character and achievement—hence peace!
O Jesus, Lord and Master of this business of life, I thank Thee for Thy secret—the secret of Thy peace. Thou didst walk up to the cross and didst make evil contribute; didst make it redemptive. Teach me Thy secret; then I shall know Thy peace. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I shall have no pseudo peace—it shall be the peace of reality—all else lets me down.
