A Brief Meditation for the Month

June 2024

I don’t think any reader questions the fact that we are presently living in a world of uncertainty and insecurity. International instability, social and political unrest, job insecurity, family violence, rising prices for food and commodities are some of the factors contributing to the worsening situation. Ongoing wars and threats of war are presently scattering communities in several nations as their social and material infrastructures are demolished, and tens of thousands of lives are extinguished. It is probably impossible to calculate the billions of the world’s financial resources currently spent on weapons and equipment to feed the international war machine. Despite the actions and good intentions of governments in cooperation with internationally established organizations to prevent any recurrence of past atrocities and devastation, peace among the nations remains elusive. Yet, though this is the world we live in, there remains in the human heart an inherent desire for a life of personal peace; oftentimes referred to as “inner peace.” Sometimes, however, it is the pursuit of personal peace itself that effectively denies it to us. In our struggle to obtain it, we rob ourselves of it. We imagine that if we achieve a certain goal or maintain a certain lifestyle, we shall be satisfied, content, and at peace with ourselves and the world around us, only to discover the unexpected entering our experience with disturbing impact. However, this need not be the case for the child of God since the Bible contains the blessed and encouraging words: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3. When the apostle Paul wrote his letters to various bodies of believers throughout the New Testament, he referred to God as “the God of peace,” Romans 15:33; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:9, etc. When, therefore, the God of peace is denied, dismissed, ignored, and forsaken by any generation, real peace is automatically forfeited. The Lord Jesus Christ, God manifested in human flesh, and thus representing the God of peace among men, came to his disciples, repeating the sacred words: “Peace be unto you.” John 20:19,21. When the same disciples were faced with the prospect of his departure from them, to ascend to glory, Jesus also said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27. So often, some of the Lord’s dear people are troubled and anxious unnecessarily because they become deaf to their loving, caring Saviour’s promises of peace to those who trust him. He exhorted his anxious disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me,” John 14:1. Remember, dear believer, Christ Jesus purchased your peace with the price of his own life’s blood because true peace begins through being reconciled to God. We read in the Epistle to the Romans: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. By his atoning death for the sins of his people, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has removed the obstacle to peace between a Holy God and the guilty sinner. His substitutionary death has so satisfied all the demands of divine law and justice that God removes all condemnation and freely justifies all those for whom his beloved Son died. Peace is then the everlasting right of every believer. Dear child of God, amidst life’s stresses and struggles, with the knowledge of what Christ has done for you, listen afresh to the pertinent question the Saviour addressed to his frightened disciples: “Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” Luke 24:38. God’s dear children experience inner peace as they trust God’s unfailing promises.

G. G. Hutton.