Missionaries become very familiar with the world's problems. We see them in the living rooms of broken homes, in the tears of the broken-hearted, and in the struggles and suffering of those we serve. We hear them from people on the street, from dimly-lit porches, and even grocery store conversations. If missionaries hear a lot of anything, it is the world's problems. Work, school, economy, rent, weather, drama, doubts, debts, and deaths. I asked someone recently if they want more peace in their life. They replied, "Well, who doesn't?"
I agree that it is a need that is about as widely known as any other in this world. Cries for peace can be found in hollow headlines, graffiti-littered ghetto's, and the private pages of jumbled journals.
When you think of the word "peace", what comes to mind?
Many images take the stage of my mind. I see a 1970's Volkswagen micro bus with a long-haired, free-spirited hippie behind the wheel. I see two fingers extended from a hand held in the air forming the classic "peace" sign. I see the cliché answer to an onstage question in a hundred different "Miss" anything pageants. I see the tears of a soldier who is fighting against people he doesn't know, in a war he didn't start, for a cause he doesn't fully understand. Many things come to our minds.
(I wonder what comes to God's mind when he considers the word "peace"...)We hear frequently, "the pursuit of happiness". It seems more of "the pursuit of peace." I don't think that one can truly have peace without being happy. I think that happiness is one of the many treasures to be found under the umbrella of peace. Therefore when we have peace, we, by its nature, have happiness.
It is important to note that I am not talking about temporary, fleeting peace. I am not talking about a moment of peace. I have seen those who smoke marijuana–who, after smoking, seem quite at peace. However, this is a temporary, fake, and counterfeit peace. This is the world's specialty. In its countless forms, the world attempts, convincingly, to give what only God can give. No. That won't do. The peace that I am talking about is far more fundamental–far more permanent.
I learned as a student, both in high school and in college, a sure route to the opposite of peace. In a word? Procrastination. Being keenly aware of the approaching due date for an English paper, a math test, or even finals I, more often that not, would spend those days which were given me to prepare and study and work, to do other things. The due date marched ever closer and I would continue to spend my time with what I considered as "worthy endeavors", but nonetheless were not what I should have been doing. Almost any given night before a big paper was due, I could be found sweating over a half-finished rough draft, or pacing the floor until I had a well worn path, or squinting through bloodshot eyes to see the blurry characters of a textbook (comment if you know exactly what i'm talking about). I don't think that I could describe exactly what I was feeling, but it was definitely not peace.
Webster's Dictionary tells us that peace is "freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility."
So what is the opposite of peace? War? Trouble? Fear? Noise? Disturbances? Whatever it is, we, as a society, seem to have a lot of it! So, if peace is so valuable, and something that seems to be more elusive with the passage of time, then how can we obtain it?
I am reminded of a phrase that says, "anything worth having is worth working for."
The pursuit of peace is lead by preparation and is defeated by procrastination. It is founded in the security of sacrifice and crumbles in the sands of selfishness. It finds its bedrock foundation in virtue and principal. Peace is one of the fruits of righteousness. Peace is the result of having done all you could with what you had, and having the confidence in God that He will take care of the rest. Think of a child. Someone under the age of 5. At that age, it is difficult to be tainted by the corruption of a fallen world. Imagine him or her for a moment. Picture them in your mind dancing from room to room–playing, learning, imagining, feeling, loving, drawing, falling over, and giggling for no reason. Picture them discovering, for the first time, the beauty of a rainbow or the sensation of a summer rainstorm. Picture the light and purity in their clear eyes. These little messy miracles–these tiny tornadoes that we call kids–are incapable of sinning, so they bask in the peace that will always be out of the world's grasp. They are in a perfect standing before God. They are made whole in Christ. I find it ironic that we are to spend our entire adult lives trying to become what we once were. Our biggest examples are our tiniest friends.
The answer to the question, "what is the price for peace?" is as simple as it is uncomfortable.
Work. Preparation. Self-denial. Sacrifice. Charity. Diligence. Patience.
The price of peace is righteousness. The action is obedience. The motivation is love.
Those who truly love God are those who truly have peace.
"Peace isn't the absence of adversity, it is the presence of Christ."
