Not as the World Gives

Have you ever noticed how the Lord will direct your attention to something, and then He repeats the message again and again?  I love that about Him.  He is so insistent that I “get it” that He doesn’t mind repeating Himself.

I mentioned in a previous blog about God’s deposit of supernatural peace. Jesus said in John 14:26-27:

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.

The phrase, “not as the world gives,”  has been rumbling around in my head. Peace in God’s economy is radically different than the world’s. I have been thinking about how we look, strive, long for peace through the world’s ways but are always frustrated and denied. Why? The world’s peace usually comes by way of consumption. Think food, sex, power, money. We think if we have “enough” of one of those things we will have peace. Or we escape to one those places because we lack peace. There is no relationship, no intimacy, no trust. No God.

Jesus didn’t stutter when He said that what He gives is altogether unlike the world’s version. The peace that Jesus gives is rooted in truth. Earlier in this conversation, Jesus has just told them that He is “the way, the truth and the life.”

This whole passage is loaded, but for today, I notice that I am most at peace when I am at peace with God; when I am  conscious, connected and dependent on Him. For everything. I am most at rest when I am most leaning back on the God of Truth. His way, His truth, His life.

You can’t buy that in a store. Hear again what the angels declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” Luke 2:14

One thought on “Not as the World Gives

  1. Jana,

    that could not have come at the most perfect time than right now in my life. Thank you for this reminder of GOD being our everything for peace in life. The Lord is so faithful to me even when I fail to depend on HIS peace, yet HE is always ready to give me HIS peace. I find myself having to make a concious effort to focus my attention more on HIM and not all this “stuff” of the world that can be so distracting. You are a blessing.

    Sincerely,
    Jenn Fee

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