No one likes to get bad news. You could be going right along with your daily activities, and then in an instant, everything in your life could change. A phone call, a report, a vehicle accident, a pink slip, or something else that rocks your world could take place. It wouldn’t even have to be a calamitous event to change your life in a moment.
Have you experienced that? You were cruising right along in life, then your husband came home from work and said he wanted a divorce, and your world came crashing down. Or you woke up as usual to get ready to go to work, but once there, you found out you no longer had a job. Or the doctor told you that you had cancer, and everything you had trusted in to give you security came crashing down around you.
Can we have peace in our hearts when our world is turned upside down?
Jesus said, “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, ESV). The kind of peace that the world gives is conditional. The kind of peace that Jesus promises is based on the foundation of God himself, unchanging, loving, gracious, merciful and faithful. God’s peace is not dependent on our circumstances; in fact, it thrives in the midst of our trials and dark valleys.
The peace that Jesus gives you and me is drawn from the very heart of God. He keeps his promises and assures us that we are his and no person, demon, fear or enemy can take us out of God’s hands.
The peace of God in your life gives you the sense that you are not walking alone. God is walking with you. His peace tells you that you do not have to sustain yourself; God is sustaining you. You don’t have to get through the storm because Christ’s voice is calming the storm and making a way through impassable waters.
When our lives change, we can witness the power of God like we have never seen before, if only we turn our eyes toward him.
Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.