“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in
the hope of the glory of God.” (Rom 5:1-2 NIV)
Peace in a world full of war and various uprisings seems like a fable from the
past. Still, we who long to have a relationship with God not only are justified
by faith, but we also experience a peace that is not from this world. This peace
resides in our hearts, like a fortress that keeps us safe from all the wiles of
adversities. After all didn’t Jesus make us a promise? “Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your
hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27 NIV) Our part is to not
let ourselves be swayed into being troubled and afraid. Easier said than done,
we may think, but somehow when we fix our eyes on Jesus (See Heb 12:2-3) trouble
doesn’t seem to faze us anymore, and we do, indeed, experience immense inner
peace.
This peace is thus only accessible by faith. After all, if we don’t believe in
peace, there is no way we can experience it fully. Our first step is to get to
know the Peacemaker personally and accept His friendship fully. He is the One
who died for us on a cross so that we could fully experience His peace.
Resurrected, He guarantees us that this is possible. He is not only our Savior,
but also our rest and our peace.
A few weeks ago, my oldest son and I had set up our tent trailer in a lovely
campground called Kiasutha Campground, located in the Alleghany National Forest,
not too far from the Kinzua dam. Because I promised my son to bring him to an A+
rated Italian restaurant in Dubois, Pennsylvania, we left on a 100 kilometer
trek. As soon as we arrived in Dubois, it began to rain so hard that we had to
park on the side of the road due to the poor visibility. We thought about our
tent trailer, back at Kiasutha, and we couldn’t help but wonder if it was
surviving this ordeal.
Back to our campground, however, we noticed that it hadn’t even rained there.
The next day we visited a fascinating World War 2 museum in Eldred,
Pennsylvania. As soon as we stepped out of the building we were stopped in our
tracks. Yes, you guessed it, it was pouring harder than the myriads of cats and
dogs promised in such heavy rain.
Later on, in Oleander, New York, where we ate and did a bit of shopping, rivers
of water again poured down from above. In fact the rain was so bad that part of
the town lost power, and on our way back, traffic was stopped because of a
terrible, flood-related accident. Again we wondered about our tent trailer.
Hadn’t we left a couple of windows open?
Once back in our campground however, we once again realized that it had not even
rained there at all. The entire time we were there, our campground was a perfect
haven from the elements. Had we stayed at the camp the entire time, we would
never have guessed how much it had rained in the area. Peace truly reigned in
this campground.
Aren’t we the ones who wander too easily away from the Peacemaker, our haven
from all elements? If we would remain safely in His presence, we could avoid the
fears and troubles that surround us. After all He is the Peacemaker, He not only
forgave us from our myriads of sins, He also made sure that His peace reigns in
us.
Heavy rain! Why don’t we get out and dance in it, for truly we have nothing to
fear. Our Father is with us! Yahoo!
Rob Chaffart
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