The Key To Peace
I had a friend that, while in a very busy and difficult season of life, lost his car keys. Modern keys, as you may know, are not simple or inexpensive to replace. Normally this would have been just an inconvenience but heaped upon a never ending list of things that needed done that day, the pot was boiling over. Whether it’s keys, a wallet, or a myriad of other lose-able necessities, the thing lost isn’t the problem. The loss of peace is.
1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Notice the Word says the devil is seeking whom he MAY devour. People don’t realize the devil can’t just devour anybody; he is looking for the open door. Most people, even Christians, don’t realize they have a very real and very sly enemy. He doesn’t have to come right out and kill someone, all he has to do is steal their peace and the rest falls into place. The opposite of peace is bondage. I am well acquainted with bondage because I lived in it for many years.
In 2 Corinthians 3:17, Paul tells us, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever you want, that is called liberality and many people confuse these things. Liberty is freedom from bondage so liberty is the doorway to peace. Notice, I said doorway and not hallway. When you go through a door you’re in it, when you go through a hallway you’re heading toward it. Why does that matter? God’s instruction gives you liberty, which is where your peace IS. Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” If where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is peace and the words Jesus spoke (the Word of God) are Spirit, then the Word of God is liberty. It is peace. This is what He meant when He said in John 8:32, that the truth will set you free.
I laid that foundation so I could build this: if we want to have true peace, the very peace of God, we can only have it by clinging to His Words. No matter what happens in life, we have to hold every Word that He has spoken to us as infallible truth. When we do that, when we rest in that, when nothing that happens can distract us from that, we will then have the open door of liberty to a room filled with peace.
So what did I say to my friend, and consequently myself because I was having my own struggles? Matthew 6:31-33 says, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Also, look at Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Rest on the Word because He’s bringing it to pass. Have surety in God’s Word because He never lies. Look at the birds and the lilies of the field, just as Jesus told us. He takes care of them, how much more you? Nothing is too big for my God and since He gives me all things, nothing is too big for me… even a set of keys. Don’t lose your joy and your peace by things that are temporal. Build it on a foundation that never moves and cannot be shaken. Build you hope on God’s Word and watch your life flourish. Trust in Him completely and just watch what He does for you!
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
