Can Peace Really Be Our Reality?

Peace can sometimes feel like a pipe dream. The world we live in seems to be marked by chaos and conflict. We feel, perhaps more than ever, the divides that define us more than we recognize what unites us. That tension is rampant in the world in which we find ourselves—one where we constantly feel caught in the midst of a storm.

But should that tension characterize the reality of those who follow Jesus? Is peace possible, even in the midst of the chaos? If God is, in fact, the God of peace, then our lives have to point to a deeper anchor than that which the world is offering. Here’s how we can find stillness in the storm.

1. Remember your anchor in Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews needed something sturdier to offer believers who were suffering great persecution and trial. None of them had control over their circumstances as they suffered in the name of Jesus. They needed something that went beyond—and much deeper—than their present circumstances. They needed to be reminded of the kind of peace that only comes through Jesus. We still need that same reminder today.

2. Cling to His words of peace.

Some of Jesus’ closest disciples experienced that peace-marked reality firsthand. One day while they were out ministering, Jesus instructed them to cross over the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41). As night fell, the wind rose up, and suddenly, they were caught in the midst of a storm. Waves were crashing, and water quickly filled the boats. Where was Jesus? Why wasn’t He doing something about it? He was asleep. Immediately, the disciples questioned Jesus’ motives. Surely, He should care if they perished!

And then, with a word, Jesus spoke to the winds and waves, “Peace! Be still.” The rushing water ceased at His command… yet we struggle to heed that same command when He speaks it to our own hearts. And just like the disciples did, we are tempted in the chaos and distress to question God’s character.

3. Remind yourself of His care for you.

Jesus didn’t sleep because He didn’t care; He slept because He wasn’t worried. He was at rest. Yet, when we are in the middle of our own life’s chaos, we are so often tempted to believe He doesn’t see us or just doesn’t care. We start waving our arms and yelling at God to do something about our circumstances. He does see us. He does care.

But God never promised us an absence of conflict. Still, He did promise us His presence and His peace. He is our only hope for stillness in the midst of the storm, not just for merely hoping the storm goes away.

The Peace that Permeates

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus made a way for us to have peace with God. Through the shedding of His blood on the cross, Jesus was making permanent and lasting peace between God and His people. Peace has always come through blood—first, through the blood of animals in the Law; then, fully through the blood of Jesus. But that peace also permeates our lives here and now.

In a broken world full of broken people, those of us who claim the name of Christ are called to bring God’s peace into that brokenness. His Spirit moving and working within us means that we have the fullness of God’s presence taking up residence in us. So, no matter what storm is raging without, we can have the fullness of God’s peace, alongside the God of peace Himself, bringing stillness deep within. It is only through Jesus that we find stillness in the storm.