Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PEACE IS A PERSON~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ancient Jewish prophets called Him "the Prince of
Peace." When Jesus came, the Christmas angels promised
he would be a Savior whose saving would bring
peace. When He left, He promised: "Peace I leave with
you, My peace I give to you" (John 14:27).

His servant Paul summed it up when he reminded us:
"He came and preached peace to you who were afar off
and to those who were near" (Eph. 2:17).

Earlier, in six simple words, he spoke the prescription for
peace: "For He Himself is our peace" (v.14).

I was one of those Paul described as "those who were
near." Years ago, I had recognized that the way in my
heart was really a battle with God. I realized that I could
not have Christ's peace until He was my Prince. Opening
the hands that had so tightly gripped the steering
wheel of my life, I let Jesus drive.

Since we were made to live for the God who made us,
everything else is out of place until we find Him. and
He can only be found at the cross, where His Son paid
the bill for our war against God. Whether we have
rejected God, or simply neglected Him, the result is the
same--a life He made and paid for, lived without Him.
Upon our invitation, He enters our lives--bringing His
peace.

Since my personal visit to Jesus' cross, I have known the
Person who is peace. Through the most turbulent stress
seasons, I have been unsinkable, as Paul said, "through
Him who loved us" (Rom 8:37). His pressure on the
inside has always been greater than the pressure on the
outside.

But for so long, I have been something much less than
"more than a conqueror." My complicated lifestyle had
allowed too many other hands on that steering wheel. I
wasn't crashing, but I was
swerving. Then the prison
cell door swung open, ______________________________________
"Seek peace and pursue ``````````I WAS LIKE A ````````````````````````````````````A MAN```````````````````
it." ````````````````````````````````WITH AN``````````````````
I have been pursuing it `````````` INEXHAUSTIBLE```````````````
ever since. The peace I ``````````BANK ACCOUNT```````````````
hungered for has been ``` ```````WHO WASN'T````````````````
there since Christ came `````````` WRITING MANY```````````````
in. But I was like a man ``````````CHECKS ON IT.```````````````
with an inexhaustible ______________________________________
bank account who wasn't
writing many checks on
it. The poverty, the pres-
sure of my life, was waiting for peace to come instead of
going after it.

Inner peace is the natural condition of the heart in
which Christ lives. I just need to quit blocking and sabo-
taging the supply lines.

In a sense, my search for peace ends where it began.
Years ago I came to Christ for peace. Years later, I am
learning to enjoy it by discovering Him more deeply
than ever before. The pursuit of peace is ultimately the
pursuit of a Person.

The gales of stress have blown me to the Prince of
Peace. And just as Paul was carried to God's destination
by that northeaster, He may be using the storms of your
life to drive you to Him.

If the load you are carrying seems too heavy for you, it
is because you were never meant to carry it alone. Cop-
ing may well be a touch-and-go struggle, but conquer-
ing is totally out of your reach. Stress is eroding even
your ability to cope.

That moment of extremity is His opportunity. Strangely
enough, you may be closest to peace than you have ever
been, and the stress of your life has carried you there.
We stand tired of fighting--and Jesus quietly whispers,
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).

Strong and proud, we don't feel the need, even though
it is just as urgent then. But battered and wounded by
years of battle, we know we need help--the rest. That's
when our hand reaches for His. Peace is a Person--and
peace rooted in Him can triumphantly stand any test.

Corrie ten Boom testified to that from the greatest hell
that man could create--the Nazi concentration camps
of World War 2. She and her dear sister Betsie paid the
price for hiding Jews in the attic of their home in Hol-
land. Through torture, humiliation, and pain, they turned
to the Christ who lived in them--and tested His peace.

Their witness was backed by the credentials of a suffer-
ing that few of us have ever known.

Betsie died in that concentration camp; Corrie was
released as a result of a clerical error. In Betsie's dying
hours, she spoke a message that Corrie would carry
around the world for nearly 40 years. Betsie said, "Tell
them that there is no pit so deep but that God's love is
deeper still."

Corrie and her sister had tasted what it means to be
"more than conquerors through Him who loved us"
(Rom. 8:37). The peace that Christ brings is that strong.

If my stress makes me hungry for His peace, then it has
driven me home. The storm has blown us into the Har-
bor that we have looked for all our lives.

__Ron Hutchcraft

********Based on a portion of the Book Living Peacefully in A Stressful World by Ron Hutchcraft. Adapted from Surviving The Storms Of Stress,
Read it on the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/hp011