“She Is Different”: Reflections on Peace

Peace with God

“She is different.” A deep-seated peace will do this. It makes a person stand out from this anxious world. It makes her able to take a nap in the middle of a raging storm, to handle conflict with confidence, and to look death in the face. Christian peace simply does not make sense—unless it comes from another world.

Peace describes the heart that knows it is safe in God. The third virtue of the fruit of the Spirit is all about what God’s love and joy have accomplished for his people—“peace with God” (Rom. 5:1), a reconciled and restored relationship of total and unshakable safety in him.

Raging Against God

War might be the ultimate earthly expression of unrest and danger. Two groups or nations are in conflict, raging against each other, provoking one another, seeking to destroy. Turmoil reigns, and peace will be established only through surrender or mutual agreement.

ESV Devotional Journal, Fruit of the Spirit

With reflective journaling prompts and space for notes and prayers, this devotional journal helps women meditate on 12 Scripture passages about peace, helping them cultivate a more fruitful life through the Holy Spirit.

Have we considered that a similar enmity once defined our relationship with God? Yet ours is always the lost cause—apart from his peace-making intervention. Psalm 2 challenges us: “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us’” (Ps. 2:1–3). By nature this is our anthem. We rebel against God’s lordship, for sin has lied to us and told us that we are better off without his authority or law. Making our own rules and ruling over one another, we want to be in charge, and we despise anything or anyone that would get in our way.

By nature we are haters of God (Rom. 1:30; Titus 3:3). Yet Psalm 2 reminds us that our rebellion is futile: “He who sits in the heav- ens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Ps. 2:4). There is no question: God will always win. He will defeat his enemies and humble those who hate him. All of us will fall to our knees, whether we like it or not (Phil. 2:10–11). The inherent question is, If we are God’s rebel-enemies, hating him and deserving his wrath, is there any hope of making peace?

Restored to God

The answer is yes—but the initiative is not ours. It is always God’s: “You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [Christ] has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death” (Col. 1:21–22). Our God of mercy acts mercifully toward his enemies (Rom. 5:10). Our God of generosity gave his Son to make peace between us (Col. 1:20). So Jesus willingly placed himself into hostile hands and under his Father’s wrath, taking the punishment our rebellion and enmity deserve.

We cast away; Jesus comes near. We spurn; Jesus saves. We rage; he rescues. Ours is a peacemaking and wonderful God.

Knowing, then, that God is for us and not against us changes everything (Rom. 8:31–39). Since we know that our Father loves us and has done what is necessary to restore us to himself, we trust we are safe in his care and embrace, no matter what may come: “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27). He becomes our peace—our total and unshakable safety — and then bestows peace through his Spirit in every scenario and within every storm (2 Thess. 3:16).

God’s peace makes us different because it comes from another world.

Yet this peace is not automatic but an active pursuit (Ps. 34:14; 1 Pet. 3:11). When fears arise and trouble comes, we have a choice. We can listen to ourselves—to worrisome thoughts, bitter criticisms, and hauntings from our past—or we can talk to ourselves and to our God. Paul writes about how seeking God’s unshakable peace is an active Christian pursuit:

We pray about everything through “supplication with thanksgiving” (Phil. 4:6).
We “think about” what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8) instead of dwelling on peace-stealing situations.
We are to “let the peace of Christ rule in [our] hearts” (Col. 3:15) as we “set our minds” on heavenly realities and “put to death” passion, anxiety, worry, and fear (Col. 3:2, 5).
We “live peaceably with all” as much as we are able to do so (Rom. 12:18).

As we “practice these things . . . the God of peace will be with [us]” (Phil. 4:9). What a magnificent promise for God’s reconciled people! We are safe, no matter what. There is a way for making peace with God and then bearing his fruit of peace—a beautiful witness to an anxious, scared, and divided world.

God’s work in and through his people is his earthly expression of peace. We proclaim God’s offer of peace to his enemies through the gospel message, imploring an estranged world to come to Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). We seek peace and unity within our churches (Matt. 5:9; Acts 9:31; Rom. 14:19), and we bear the Spirit’s peaceable fruit before those outside the church — our unbelieving neighbors and community (John 16:33; Acts 10:36; Rom. 14:17).

God’s peace makes us different because it comes from another world.

Safe in the Arms of Jesus

There will come a day when wars will cease, storms will calm, and death will die, when the people of God will finally reach the safety of that golden shore, the heavenly Jerusalem, where the dwelling place of God will be with man, and we will be safe (Rev. 21:1–5). The everlasting arms will encompass us, and the peace of Christ will rule forever. We will marvel at God’s mercy and sing of his grace, astounded that we who were once far off have been brought near, that God’s peace has overcome the world and our troubled hearts.

“And he shall be their peace” (Micah 5:5).

This article is adapted from the ESV Devotional Journal, Fruit of the Spirit: Peace by Kristen Wetherelll.

Kristen Wetherell is a wife, mother, writer, and speaker. She is the author of several books, including Help for the Hungry Soul and the For the Bible Tells Me So board book series. Kristen is a member of the Orchard and lives in Chicagoland with her husband and three children.

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