How Much Is Peace Worth?

How Much Is Peace Worth?

I listen carefully to what God the LORD is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people. But let them not return to their foolish ways. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory. Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!

Psalm 85:8-10

What would you do for a quarter of a million dollars? Jump out of a plane (with a parachute, of course)? Parade around in a Mickey Mouse suit in hundred-degree weather? Eat a gazillion hotdogs smothered in red-hot chili sauce? Go swimming in Lake Michigan in February?

For that much money most of us would be willing to do any number of unpleasant things, as long as they didn’t involve moral compromise or danger to life and limb. But what are you willing to do today in order to live a life of greater peace?

I ask the question because the priceless peace we seek comes only from following the ways of God, which may not always feel easy. Sometimes they will feel downright unpleasant, at least at first. Here are a few examples. The woman filled with bitterness will need to pray for those who have hurt her. The woman in an illicit relationship will need to break it off. The woman who has based her life on money will need to realize that everything she has belongs to God. The woman who is too busy to pray will need to make time in her life for God. The woman who is worried about her children will need to learn how to surrender them to God’s care.

So often the way toward peace is counterintuitive, cutting as it does against our instinctive bent toward self-reliance, self-preservation, and self-aggrandizement. But since when does anything good ever come without effort?

If you desire the precious peace of God, decide today to listen for his voice and then do what he asks. Trust him for the results, and you will not be disappointed.

Father, my heart does not always know the way to peace. Please change me so my first thought is to please you and my last thought is to please myself. Guide me in your ways, whether they feel hard or easy, I pray.