Dear Judy,
I hear people in my church saying, “Peace be with you.” Living in this upside down world, I wonder what that statement really means. How can we have peace when children are shooting other children in our schools, or when we can’t even open a package on our doorstep in case it’s a bomb! What is going on in our country? I am so troubled by the hatred all around. I get very confused at what “peace be with you” really means today.
Dear Confused,
First of all God does not want His people to be confused! He wants peace for His children. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
The statement “peace be with you” is said many times in the Bible. Jesus told His disciples before He went to the cross, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Then after His resurrection, “… the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19).
In both of these scriptures Jesus is telling them — and us — that the world will go upside down, but His peace will come to our hearts. This is powerful because Jesus made a way for us to experience His peace no matter what is going on in our life or in the world around us.
The antidote for fear is peace. Peace means “to be at one again” or “harmony.” We are a spirit, have a soul (mind will emotions) and live in a body. We need all three to be in harmony in order for fear to release its grip! So when someone says to you or you say to someone else, “Peace be with you,” this is a very powerful statement to receive or to give. You are saying, “Let God’s oneness be with you!” We all should speak this statement of Jesus to one another!
Send questions to Judy Baus, 9309-99W Highway, Gerber CA 96035 or baus1@juno.com.
