In Desperate Need of Peace

Scripture: But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 1 Chronicles 22:9

Observation: As David tells Solomon about the plans for the temple, he reveals that the Lord has declared that Solomon's reign will be one marked by peace. In fact, Solomon's name is derived from 'shalom' and means peace. Similarly, one of the interpretations of 'Jerusalem' is that its name is also is derived from 'shalom' and means 'pointing toward - or foundation of - peace'. Indeed, Solomon will reign for 40 years, the entirety of which is marked by his never having a single military conflict, and he will be the only king in history to rule the entire promised land for his entire reign from this capital city.

Application: "For it is money they have, and peace they lack." This is one of the greatest lines from the movie 'Field of Dreams', used to describe all mankind and all the people who will show up just to see a simple baseball diamond in the middle of an Iowa corn field. Of course, we know in the movie that the diamond is an extension of heaven. People will come ... and pay ... just for a momentary slice of God's divine peace.

Oh my goodness, how we need peace in our lives today. We have war and acts of terror perpetrated against Israel, other active wars elsewhere in the world, political conflict between so many national governments, and ideological fighting even within our country every day and everywhere. If I were to explore my city daily, every day I could find an angry protest occurring within 20 miles of my home, and that doesn't even count random deadly violence perpetrated on a small scale.

We are in desperate need of peace in our world, in our country, and in our towns. But most of all, we are in desperate need of peace in our hearts. I know I am. My heart is at peace some of the time, but not enough. Sometimes I feel like I'm in conflict even when sitting around peacefully. There are times I feel conflict internally as I consider my own life.

Imagine a period of 40 years in which there was literally no conflict of any kind. It is beyond human comprehension. Imagine my own heart and mind, where all worry and internal conflict were simply set aside, and every time such feelings began I just turned to the Lord in prayer and worship and allowed his spirit to control me feelings ... allowed his peace to govern my life.

Prayer: Lord, may your shalom rule my life. We are so in need of your peace here on earth, and I am in need of your peace in my heart. Again I say, Lord, may your shalom rule my life. Amen.