One of my favorite scriptures is found in the Book of John, chapter 14, verse 27. Jesus said, “I give you peace, the kind of peace only I can give. It isn’t like the peace this world can give. So. don’t be worried or afraid.”
If one were to look at the meaning of the word peace in a dictionary, it would define it as, “The absence of conflict or war”. A world without conflict would be nice, but no one can argue that conflict isn’t part of the this world’s system. It’s built in to it!
However, there is the peace that Jesus talked about; another peace that transcends the natural, world-given kind of peace. In the scripture mentioned above, Jesus said, “I’m leaving you with a different kind of peace”. It’s a peace that passes comprehension or understanding. It’s a peace that abides within you, in spite of what we hear on the news, in spite of the condition of the world. It’s not circumstantial! It’s based on a trust and commitment to the character, presence, and word of God.
Jesus told his disciples, “Don’t be worried or afraid". Other translations of the same verse instruct us to “NOT LET our hearts be troubled, DON’T LET them be afraid”. There’s responsibility on our part of living in this beautiful promise - It’s guarding our hearts from all the, what-if’s, all the fears, and troubling expectations!
It’s critically important that we “take our negative thoughts captive, and bring them to the obedience of Christ”. ( II Corinthians 10:5) God promised that He would keep us in PERFECT PEACE, if we keep our thoughts and imagination on him! (Isaiah 26:3) Peace is a gift from God, but manifests in our lives as a product of prayer, trust, gratitude, obedience and being intentional with our thoughts! (Philippians 4:6-9) The God of Peace has promised to be with us! You and I can have His inner peace - in spite of the negative, external circumstances of this world.