Peace I leave you. Great, where is it?

We live in a world where we want to kn

\w everything.  In the palm of my hand, I hold a minicomputer that can tell you the time, the temperature, and the daily news of somewhere around the world.  It can tell me what I should eat, when to eat it and I can order and have it brought to my house.  If I am sick, and no time for the Doctor, I can look that up too.  We have it all at our fingertips and within seconds. So if as a society we have all of this information bombarding us 24/7 365 days a year, why are we more anxious then ever before?  Why is the word “peace” some far off abstract idea.  This anxiety filled world isn’t picking favorites.  It is effecting the rich and the poor, the Christian and the nonchristian, and adults and children alike.  Yes, our children are feeling the effects of the anxiety of their parents, the media and the culture in which we have created.  There are more adolescent suicides, more anxiety medication given and to younger children then ever before.  It is alarming, the number of children who are being diagnosed with anxiety/depression disorders yearly.  Ironic, that we live in a society where we have almost anything at our fingertips, and yet the idea of peace doesn’t seem obtainable.  We say things, and by we I mean myself included, say things like I just want some peace tonight. Or my personal favorite saying, I can’t wait until_____ so I can have peace and quiet.  Fill in the blank with whatever you like.  It is something we are searching for on the daily, yet seems no where to be found.

   However, in John 14:27, Jesus is talking to the disciples and says this about the topic of peace:

   “Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.”

Thank you Jesus, I mean seriously we are looking everywhere for peace and yet we have it at our fingertips daily, also.  It may not tell me what it is like on the other side of the world, but it tells who made the world.  It may not let me have food delivered to my house, but it gives me delieverance from overeating and overspending.  It has been here for thousands of years, and never changed……THE BIBLE.   I teach Sunday School and one saying we have everyday is ‘if it’s in the Bible it must be TRUE’.

   Phillipians 4:8-9 states ‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is praiseworthy or excellent, think about such things…….and the God of peace will be with you’.

  Did you know that only truth we can stand on in this world is the Word of God?  I do not think it is by accident that Paul put “true” firs thiseed to have in the palm of your hand.  Everything else is just distraction.