Rejecting Counterfeit Peace

Psalms 119:165

¹⁶⁵ Great peace have those who love your law,

and nothing can make them stumble. (NIV)

It is the human endeavor to pursue peace. We want fulfillment, but we also want peace. Though it is possible that some of us have become addicted to stress because we have known so few days without it, deep down we crave peace. We pursue it, and we will do everything possible to obtain it. 

One hindrance to our peace is the counterfeit peace that is always before us. We must reject counterfeit peace. There is an immediate peace that it nothing more than a pause in the emotional distress of the moment. We go after this through sleep, intoxication, free sex, deceit, embellishment, and avoidance. Through each of these, we can pause the stress, overshadow the discomfort, or prolong the consequences, but none of these bring lasting peace. 

True peace is confidence in the midst of stress that God will see us through. It is the deep assurance within us that not only will God help us through the current crisis, but He will use it to do something greater and better in us, for us, or both. A faith like this is not shaken by the stressors that normally send us reeling from fear. We stand strong in the peace of God. But this is not immediate, and we find it as we learn to love God’s law. 

God’s laws are principles for life that lead us to love. It seems strange that peace would come from a law that defines the behavior and attitude of love. It is not that loving others as Christ has loved us will remove us from stressful situations. This is not the case. Loving others as Christ loves us keeps us in communion with God, so we retain the right position to receive God’s provision and protection. 

Jesus described the Holy Spirit who dwells within us as living water. Living water is water that sustains ecosystems due to the oxygen it contains. But when water stops flowing, it loses oxygen. It is no longer able to sustain life in the ecosystems. The Holy Spirit is living water in that it is the life that supports us and saves us from the spirit of death. But this means it must flow. As we receive from the Holy Spirit, we must, in turn, give what we have received to others to keep the flow. Following the laws of God allows the power, love, goodness, and peace of God to flow into us. As we see this, we learn to love His law. We continue to love others, and we continue to receive from God the peace that surpasses understanding.