In Search of Peace

I confess to being a bit addicted to the HGTV channel on television (when I actually have a few moments to watch television), and I enjoy the programs where people are looking to find a new home for their family.  Sometimes, those people even go house hunting in foreign lands around the globe.  One of the things I most often hear them say is that they are looking for a place in an exotic land where they can "escape the rat race and just find some peace."  Central and South America are frequently places where they look.  Sometimes their hunt takes them to an oceanside home where they can walk the sandy beaches and listen to the waves roll in.  Other times, they look for a small hideaway nestled into the forest or jungle.  I am always intrigued to see and hear what goes on in their minds throughout the process.

The sad thing here is that I believe these precious folks in search of peace are looking in entirely the wrong place to find it.  I'll grant you that some of the homes they find are in quiet and peaceful locations, but the most peaceful location on earth will not bring peace into the human heart.  For a period, they may find some relaxation and satisfaction, but in time that search for peace resurfaces and they're on the move again.

True peace, my friends, is never going to be found in a place... a house, on a boat, or anywhere else on this troubled planet.  Peace is that most precious of gifts afforded to us through a right relationship with our Lord and Creator.  It's not a place of residence that brings us peace, it is the peace that lives within the heart and soul of the believer that people long for. 

In John 16:33, Jesus gave us a promise that assures us of finding peace in this life:  "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; for I have overcome the world."   We need no longer search frantically for a cabin tucked away from society or build a hut somewhere in the wilderness to find peace.  An apartment on New York's 5th Avenue can become a haven of peace when the Lord abides in the heart of the person who lives there.  That individual will come to know the blessing of taking a few moments to meditate on the Word of God daily and the "peace that passes all understanding" to be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

If peace is what you have been seeking, I implore you to look to the source of all peace: our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Traveling the globe looking for a place to get away from the world is expensive and time consuming... particularly when you come to realize that the peace you were seeking was seeking you all along.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

John 14:27