“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
John 14:27 (NIV)
What is God’s peace? Jesus promised to give us His peace. His own. But what does that look like?
We often think of peace as the absence of conflict, discord, or war. But it’s also the presence of something: agreement.
In order to be at peace, we must agree. We must sign the treaty, lay our weapons down, and concur. We may still retain our differences, our variety, our uniqueness, but we can find common ground. When we do not agree, we cannot have peace.
This is why pockets of hidden peace are such a miraculous find when we stumble upon them. Because, just for a moment, we find agreement between our heads, hearts, and the world around us. Sitting beside a creek on a sunny hike. Closing your eyes in the salt-spray breeze on a rocky coastal beach. Chatting quietly around a table of family or friends long after the food is eaten and the plates cleared away. A quiet sanctuary on a Sunday morning, a garden just before evening, a cup of coffee in a rainy cafe. This peace is temporary—Jesus reminded us of that, too—but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It’s simply a placeholder. A little moment when everything agrees, and there is no conflict, if only for an instant.
Now, imagine taking that moment of peace and expanding it outward into eternity. Pure agreement. Forever.
That is God’s peace. It is eternal agreement. Not because we all think or behave the same, but because our differences fit together perfectly. Our God of wild variety dwells in an eternity where everything agrees, somehow. Puzzle pieces fit together. Chaos becomes order. And all of this without sacrificing a single bit of color, life, fragrance, or whimsy.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. Right now we live on a battlefield of conflict, suffering, and separation. But look for the tiny glimpses of God’s peace, hidden throughout your days like buried treasure. Hold them close and then let them go, knowing that they are only placeholders.
Knowing that someday, there will be an agreement that never fades away.
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This is beautiful!! Hallelujah & Amen! Thank you for this beautiful reminder 💛