The Peace of God

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you . . . .Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid" (John 14:27). God intends that we rest in Him and are possessed by His peace. As Augustine famously observed, our hearts are restless until we rest in Him. How do we avail ourselves of this peace? The key is the commitment of complete trust. We receive God's peace as we realize afresh that we are completely in Him and engulfed in His love.

Again, one's self is the problem. To desire peace simply as a possession of the self--something we covet and want to own--is subtly but terribly to miss the point and remain in doubt and restlessness. As in all aspects of our relationship with God, complete surrender and trust are the indispensable elements. To place one's self afresh in the body of Christ and rest completely in Him ("abide in me," Christ commands) is the way into the peace that He bestows.