Personal Peace

John 14:27 New King James Version (NKJV):

²⁷ Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

When the Bible uses the word “peace” it means a wholeness, fullness, or completeness.  In the Biblical concept, we find that peace is the result of having needs met and being free from want.  Interestingly, peace is not something that a person can find or achieve for ourselves.  When Jesus was getting ready to go to the Cross, He comforted his disciples by promising peace.  But He gives them some extra information.  The peace that Jesus promised is personal.  It is His peace, and he alone can give peace.  Furthermore, this peace is given in a special way.  It is not given in the same way the world gives.  The world gives with conditions and expectations, but the Lord gives His peace freely and fully to all who believe in Him.  While we may get distracted, and we may be deceived, we never have less than all that we need.  

The Peace Peace of the Lord

Isaiah 26:3 says:

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

A peaceful time might include your favorite music, or a cup of tea while the snow falls.  But perfect peace?  Why that would have to be getting a massage on a Hawaiian beach while listening to Benedict Cumberbatch read the funnies out loud to you.  Perhaps we all have different ideas of what a peaceful day might be like.  However, the perfect peace that the Lord promises in Isaiah 26:3 has nothing to do with our circumstances.  This verse, when read in Hebrew is: Natsher samooch tithsor shalom shalom.  No, I did not repeat myself.  The Hebrew expression translated “perfect peace” is shalom shalom – or  “peace peace”  The sense of this repetition  is intensifying the meaning of peace.  When we are focused solely upon the Lord, trusting in Him through every situation, we don’t just have peace…we have peace peace.