LORD OF PEACE

We are never going to be free from the stress of worry, the frustration of circumstance and the limitations of our ability to cope while we are here in the body. Sad, but true. The thought will often cross the mind as to why we can’t justget away from it all somewhere and find some place where all these things will not trouble us. There is no such place on earth but the apostle is suggesting for us that there is a Person who can meet our need, and He is the Lord of Peace.

Certainly the church at Thessalonica had experienced their fair share of troubles, and from every direction, since they had become believers. They had endured unrelenting and violent persecution from their fellow countrymen, the sad loss through death of fellow Christians, the disruption and imposition of those that wrote letters about future events. The apostle Paul who had brought them the gospel and taught them the word of God had fled for his life. They were certainly feeling that they were alone in it all and had no one to turn to. Ever felt like that?

Paul had done his best in these two letters to help them deal with conflict and to set them on an even footing. Thank God for the encouragement, comfort and the enlightenment of corrective teaching. But he cannot ignore the ever-available source of peace.

Paul resorts finally to prayer for them on account of the disruption they had endured. He was deeply concerned for them in this matter and we would be wise to note how serious constant disruption and conflict can be in the lives of God’s people. We need to learn how to get peace and to ward off the deeply disturbing effects when peace is lacking.

The Lord Jesus is the source of peace and the only One who can establish it in our hearts. It is to the Lord Himself that he commends them. Whatever else he had already done to help them, it is only direct contact with Christ that will meet their need in the long term. In John chapter 14 verse 27 the Lord promised this peace to His own . It is personally guaranteed to us by His word and His presence, so throw away the stress and plunge into His peace today. ‘My peace I give unto you’.