From Forward Day by Day
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
The “world’s peace” is so seductive. Sometimes what passes for the world’s peace is actually just anesthetizing, a temporary, instantly gratifying “peace.” It’s “vegging out” on the couch watching too much TV and the overindulging of food, alcohol, or drugs. When I’m not living as a citizen of the kingdom of God, living intentionally and consciously, I feel the pull toward this anesthetizing peace.
The peace Jesus offers grows with endurance as we trust more of life to God and are willing to walk in the ambivalence that life deals us again and again. It is a peace that waits for the emergence of clarity that only arises from living with paradox.
In the end, this peace is whole and enduring, about living in the kingdom of God in the very present moment. It is a peace that comes in waves, and one that I cycle back through after indulgences in the world’s peace. It is a peace that patiently honors my process of becoming a whole citizen of God’s kingdom.
