Peace. It is a word we accept as good, something desirable. As I start to think about the idea of peace, however, I start to wonder what peace really means. So, first, off to that faithful creature, the thesaurus, to get an idea of what we\u2019re about here.<\/p>\n
The first peace I see is the idea of peace and quiet<\/em>, that is tranquility. Rather than noise and the confusion that goes along with it, there is solitude and restfulness. Next, there is the idea of peace of mind<\/em>. This is replacing agitation or distress with calm and contentment. Finally, there is the idea of peace as in law and order<\/em> or cessation of hostilities<\/em>. Conflict and war is replaced with nonviolence and truce.<\/p>\n The first and the last here seem to me very externally focused. I see circumstances. I see environment. The second, however, focuses on what comes from within. We may discuss at length how much the external affects the internal and vice versa\u2014nature and nurture, genes and culture, and so on.<\/p>\n So, having explored definitions, and poked at the sources or causes of peace and its opposites, I must now go to God\u2019s word for direction. While we are there, I want to go big. I want perfect peace<\/em>, not just some temporary or partial peace. Check this out.<\/p>\n You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)<\/p>\n Perfect peace is the result of a mind the remains fixed on God. A mind can remain fixed on God because of a choice to trust God. So, can I trust so fully in God that my mind remains fixed on Him and thus I am able to have perfect peace? How does this happen?<\/p>\n Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present you requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)<\/p>\n When anything of any size at any time begins to intrude on your peace, the thing that draws you out of that and back to peace is prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. The thanksgiving bit makes it clear there is no room for bitterness. This is that trust part again. God may not work on the schedule I want or do things the way I expect but I must choose to trust in His goodness and power, knowing that he is beyond all understanding. So, with thanksgiving, I am with God in prayer. In this place, I express the needs I see\u2014mine and others\u2014and lay those anxieties on Jesus Christ. Then, he says, His peace will guard our hearts and our minds.<\/p>\n Is that all? No quite. It goes further.<\/p>\n Finally, brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me\u2014put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)<\/p>\n When we get anxiety we give it to God in prayer, with thanksgiving, but to turn things around for the long term, God gives us further commands. Keep the anxiety as low as possible in the first place by thinking noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy thoughts. Censor what enters your brain. How much violence, sex, horror, confusion, clamor, deception, etc. do I pump into my brain each day? How much of this is at my option? Media? Hanging out with divisive or vulgar people? Putting myself in tempting or compromising situations?<\/p>\n God says to purposefully put in the good stuff much, much more than the other stuff. That\u2019s not all. Having filled your mind with the good, use the time you have freed up not filling your mind with garbage acting on the good you know you ought to do.<\/p>\n The result? It is even better than having the peace of God<\/em>. He says that we will have the God of peace<\/em> with us<\/u>. That\u2019s it. It cannot get any better. I conclude that to have any chance to achive the two kinds of external peace we saw, we must attain the inside peace made available to us. Further, even if those around it never grasp that inner peace (no world peace, no end of clamor) our transcendent peace will still sustain us and see us through to the end. This, in its entirety, bears a second reading. Read. Digest. Do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Peace. It is a word we accept as good, something desirable. As I start to think about the idea of peace, however, I start to wonder what peace really means. So, first, off to that faithful creature, the thesaurus, to get an idea of what we\u2019re about here. The first peace I see is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}