How Do We Find Peace in Our Troubled World?

        This question should become immediately obsolete when we remember the words of Christ, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, but as I give.  Do not, therefore, be afraid or troubled.”  John 14:27.  However, with the intensity of fear and frustration many people are experiencing in our world today, this statement is lost sight of and many press the question, But how?  As some computer programmes’ “help write-ups” often say, “show me?” many people reply similarly to the above question.  Well, let’s look at some steps to finding peace with God in our restless world.

        As we look at these steps to personal peace with God consider these texts, first of all, we have Romans 3:23, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  And again, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9.  And once more, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.  They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good.” Ps. 14:1.  These texts put into perspective the reasons for all our fears and frustration.  You see, friends, fear and frustration actually come with a price.  When we reject the one source that guarantees peace in this turbulent world we open ourselves wittingly or unwittingly to abuse and discouragement.  For example, when we reject the fact that all humans have sinned and have run afoul of God’s instructions for happy and peaceful living, we of necessity have to invent our own rules for living successfully and peacefully.

        But how can we by our own rules and not God’s, live happily and peacefully when the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked?  And to top it all, we are not aware of it! Many years ago while studying at a Seminary in the Far East, I was looking at the topic of guilt and responsibility and this led me to a volume written by a psychiatrist named Dr O Hobart Mowrer.[i]  In Mowrer’s research, it was found that people perform better and recover faster from depression and imprisonment if they are led to take responsibility for their actions.  In other words, when humans recognize that rules and regulations are necessary for setting boundaries that keep us more secure, contented, and peaceful and that when we trespass these boundaries and accept responsibility for doing so, they are more disposed to reforming their lives.  If we can recognize the depravity of our minds due to sin, if we can recognize that God has made a way out for us to reform our lives into a holier, healthier and happier state, the better it will be for us as we pursue peace in our lives.

        Our first step, then, in finding peace in our restless world, is to accept our brokenness, or as the Bible puts it, our sinfulness.  The next step is to go beyond the acceptance of our brokenness and take responsibility for our sinfulness, both our original sin inherited from our parents and over which we have no control, and our sins of commission, sins which we have ourselves committed.  The Bible says in 1 John 3:4 that “whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.”  Law here refers specifically to divinely-appointed law or instructions that God had given Adam and Eve to live by.  God said to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16, 17 that they could eat freely of every tree of the Garden of Eden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The consequence of transgressing that injunction, God pointed out, would be death.

        The understanding we get from the above passage (Gen. 2:16, 17) is that Adam and Eve were never supposed to die; death only came when they transgressed the law God gave them.  The apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:17, 19,  “by one man’s offence (sin) death came upon all” or as, as he writes in verse 19, “by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” In plain language we read, “because of Adam’s sin, he passed on death to all creatures;” In 1 Corinthians 15:22, Paul again clarifies, “In Adam, all die.”  This means, friends, that when Adam sinned he passed on to his unsuspecting and helpless progeny, sin and its consequence, death.  Sin, then, is an autoimmune dysfunction that all have inherited and over which we have no control.  In other words, humans have been programmed to do evil and wrong by the disobedience of their first parents.  The bad news is that no human has the ability to ‘cure’ or reverse this programme of evil, called sin, inherent in humanity.  Perhaps this is why Dr Mowrer and others can point out that the first step in dealing with our wrong acts (our brokenness or fallen nature) is the acceptance and admission of it.  Acceptance of our guilt.  There is, however,  good news ahead.

        Interestingly, the Bible explains that while we have inherited a fallen nature or sinful behaviour through no fault of ours initially, we are still held accountable for the commission of the wrong we do.  In James 4:17 we read, “therefore to him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin.”  While we are not held accountable for the sins of our forefathers, (Deuteronomy 24:16), we are held accountable for our own rebellion because God has told us from the very beginning that we should repent and accept His offer of pardon.  Here is what we read in the Bible, as soon as sin entered the universe God provided an escape for man, and all man has to do is to accept his guilt, accept the offer of pardon and follow God as He leads.  Genesis 3:15 tells us that as soon as sin entered through the disobedience of Adam, God stepped between satan, the tempter, and fallen (sinful) man and took the penalty of death upon Himself.  Remember we read 1 Corinthian 15:22 that, in Adam, all died, but the verse went on to say, but in Christ shall all be made alive.

        If we look again at Romans 5:17, 19 we read verse 17, “For if by one man’s offence death came, much more those who receive the grace and the gift of the righteousness of Christ shall live.”  And verse 19 states, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”  In other words, since Adam’s sin brought death to all humanity so the grace of Jesus, by His death on the cross, has brought righteousness and eternal life to all that accept this pardon.  Again in Ezekiel 14:6, we read where God implores His people, “repent and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”  This second step of taking responsibility for our sinful behaviour is very crucial to our healing and participation in the peace that God offers us.

        Our final step in finding peace in this stormy world is to believe and accept the promises God has given us of forgiveness and restoration.  In 1 John 5:13, we read where Jesus said, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  The apostle Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to God must believe that He exists and that He does reward those that diligently seek Him.  Belief and faith are inextricably tied together, you cannot have one without the other.  

        When the disciple Thomas doubted that Jesus had actually risen from the dead, Jesus said to this doubting disciple, “reach here and feel my side and be not faithless but believing” John 20:27.  In verse 31 (John 20:31) John writes, “but these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name.”  And in Romans 15:13 Paul makes clear, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.”  Lest we become discouraged when we look at our inability to constantly do what is right, Jesus gives us this promise in Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Jesus can and does give us victory if we open our hearts to Him.

        Jesus again makes it clear that all things are possible to the one who believes (Mark 9:23).  How then do we believe or develop our belief?  The answer is simple and is found in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing or reading the word of God.”  But how does that work?  How does reading the Bible increase faith?  The answer to this question is crucial; you see, the more you read and internalize the Word of God the more God enervates you to believe, love, and accept Him.  Yes, some parts of the Bible are hard to understand; other parts may make you saddened.  But the more you read and reflect on what you are reading the more God is able through The Holy Spirit to connect to your mind and bring about a change in your thinking.  

        Here is how the apostle puts it in 2 Corinthians 3:18 “When we all completely focus on Him, like looking at our face in a mirror, we become changed into His glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  We often say, ‘like attracts like.’ The more we are disposed to know God and to follow Him through reading or listening to the Word, the more we understand Him and get to know Him.  This will take time and perseverance, but to him that continues to seek, he will find; to him that persists on knocking, it will be opened unto him.  I am amazed at how the birds on my lawn continually peck on the ground in pursuit of worms for themselves and their young, and they seem never to fail neither do they give up!

        This is a spiritual law; like physical laws, so are spiritual laws.  How you make your bed is how you will lie in it; what you sow is what you will reap. So, my friends, in order to have peace in these disturbing times remember to follow the steps delineated above.  These are in summary: 1) We must accept that we are broken and sinful; that is what was passed on to us from our first parents, Adam and Eve. 2) We must take responsibility for our sinful actions.  Not only have we inherited sin, but we have ourselves participated in evil and wrong acts; no matter how much we are persuaded or tempted to do wrong, the act is voluntary, and the choice is ours.  And finally, 3) we must believe God when He says He has forgiven us and will restore us to the divine image.  Refusal to believe God is the rejection of Him, and rejection of Him only leads to the forfeiture of eternal life for He is the source of all life.

        I leave you with this appeal from our heavenly Father, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.”  Isa. 45:22.  May God lead us to the Tree of life and may we freely partake of it.  Blessings.

[i] Mowrer, 1961 (Psychiatry and Religion).

If you have any comments or questions please contact Pr. Ron Henderson at ronhende@outlook.com.

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