Today's Readings: 2 Samuel 7:1–17; Psalm 132; Luke 1:39–45
Peace. It’s something that feels so elusive in our world. It’s something that we search desperately for between the various demands that life places on us. Whether it’s the steady grind of time that forces us to move from one commitment to the next, or the expectation of those around us to fulfill some need that they have, or the one more thing at work that has to be done now, peace feels like a hidden treasure that is always just out of reach. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve crumbled to the floor in the middle of a chaotic day just begging for a moment of peace. Here’s the problem…we will never be able to keep up with life. Why? Because we can’t control it. Control is the enemy of peace. The more that we try to orchestrate the world around us, the more it slips through our fingers. The more frustrated we get, the less at peace we feel as we frantically try to assemble the broken pieces of our life. We can’t create peace. We can only receive it and extend its blessings to others.
That’s why I love Psalm 132. In this psalm God does the work. God is the one who offers peace to His people. His people are those who simply seek after Him and come before Him in worship. There is a humility connected to peace. Those who receive the peace and rest that God offers are those who acknowledge that God is the one that is ultimately in control. There is nothing that escapes Him, catches Him by surprise, or overwhelms Him. He is perfectly over all of life. And because He is sovereign over all, He blesses, He satisfies, He clothes, He is faithful to His promises. So how do we find peace? We submit. We give over ourselves to the one who holds everything in the first place. We honor our covenant with God and obey the things that He has called and to do and be the people He has enabled us to be.
And in the midst of chaos we pause and we see. We see that God is faithful to His promises. We see that God provides. We see that God blesses. We see that God and God alone satisfies. And we see it in Christ, the one who has come and has made us at peace with God through His sacrifice on the cross. And so where are you looking for peace? Is it something that you are trying to manufacture? Or are you looking to the one who is the yes and amen to all of God’s promises? Are you looking to the one seated on His forever throne? Are you finding your peace at the foot of the cross?
