Finding Peace in A Broken World

I had always felt that peace was such a fleeting sensation. Perhaps my time in the hospital best exemplified this: I could be looking out of the window at lunchtime, briefly losing myself in the peaceful serenity of the autumn landscape, marvelling at the beauty of God’s creation; in the next minute I find myself frantically dashing to the wards to resuscitate a collapsed patient, anxiously hoping that everything will be okay. Peace, I have found, is always rudely interrupted by the overwhelming frenzy of daily life. It could be a wailing child during a mother’s quiet time, an urgent call received during prayer, or even just the siren of a passing ambulance that startles you during a time of quiet reflection.Where then can peace be found? And more importantly, how can it be held on to? Can we only find peace in the solitude of the mountaintop, or in the quiet of the night when the toddler has finally gone to bed? Must we console ourselves with the cold reality that the peace promised to us in the Bible will always be out of our reach, save for the rare moments when we can fully extract ourselves from the distractions of this world? Thankfully, that is not the case. Peace is symbolised by the second candle of Advent, and for good reason—because Jesus came into this world to die for our sins, peace has been secured for us. Peace is not a feeling we chase after from quiet meditation; true peace is an objective reality that results from the cross of Jesus. It is reconciliation with our Creator, no longer at war but finally at peace with him. This peace is so everlasting and complete, that God even swore that just as he would never flood the world again, so too God would never be angry with us nor rebuke us again (Isa. 54:9). We know we have peace because Christ died for us.And the more confident we are that we are at peace with God, the more that will naturally translate into how we feel in our daily lives. No amount of doubt will shake us from the security of belonging to God. We won’t ever be overwhelmed by anxiety or worry, because we know God is on our side. In our tiredness, we can rest in calm assurance that Jesus gives us strength in our weakness. Even in our grief we won’t despair, because there is real hope in Jesus. In Christ, we have peace that will never be taken away.