Gandhi’s story is oft told.
Ana-baptist churches have upheld peace even in times of war.
We look for peace in places like the beach or the mountains.
We travel to monasteries, take journeys of self-discovery
All done to find Peace.
Love, forgiveness, mercy, grace– all virtues to have but I think the base of those start with peace. Being at peace with God.
Romans 5 tells me that in spite of all the world’s history of murder, war, and hatred
In spite of each country’s history of slavery, oppression, and search for power
In spite of my own individual history of anger, jealousy and pride
“We have peace with God”
Not by the choice of the offender, but by the choice of the offended.
It’s the very reason that we can accept and stand in God’s grace and beauty and the beauty of our lives.
But it is also, for me, where peace makes sense, in a solid and practical way, in our lives.
See, there is motion to peace. The suffering we experience, all the junk and pain and hurt, has already been redeemed through that peace with God that allows us to endure it as he endured it. And it is that endurance that shapes and forms who we are and who we are to God and it is that relationship of who God is to us and who we are to God that allows us to hope.
And hope that cannot disappoint because we, now and all times, are at peace with God.
It is this hope that we roll out into our futures that lets us know that when we face trials, we will already be standing in that hope.
Hurt and pain and suffering don’t wait for us to be ready for them. They don’t schedule themselves at our convenience. God doesn’t wait for that either.
If God had waited for us to be ready…
So in those times that you believe yourself weak, God is proving his love. Not in spite of our weakness but because of it