This Thing Called Peace

Peace.

The world has been seeking it for millennia. Individually, we long for it and wonder why it seems so elusive. When I married my late husband, he had a poster that said, “Peace is not needing to know what will happen next.” After his death, I gave away many of my husband’s things. But the poster is one thing I have held onto. In the weeks and months following his death, I often looked at that poster and wondered if I would ever find peace and hope in my life again.

Now, eight years later, I am wrapping up six weeks of volunteering with The Voice of the Martyrs’ Communications Department.  One of my jobs has been to work on VOM’s 2014 Annual Report. This has involved researching the 60 or so countries where VOM has a presence. The more research I have done, the more compassion I have felt for those individuals who live in areas where fighting and violence are an ongoing thing — where the search for shelter, food and water consume the major part of every day.

Why is peace so hard for humankind to attain, both on a global level and a personal one? 

Jesus warned his disciples that the peace the world gives is “fragile” (John 14:27), and he promised his believers a lasting “gift — peace of mind and heart.”

So, if I know that Jesus is the source of all peace, and I claim Jesus as my Savior, why is it so many of my days seem anything but peaceful? What do I do when my world is shattered and despair descends like a veil of darkness that blocks out all hope? How do I deal with the individuals in my family, or my workplace, who always seem to know how to “push my buttons” and create conflict?

In my own search for peace, I have discovered something important. Peace is not an absence of conflict.   Jesus never promised that. True peace comes in the midst of conflict — not in its absence. The lasting peace Jesus promises is one that grows more solid as the chaos and turmoil around me rise. That means allowing Jesus to change me and the way I respond to the events that shake my world to its core.

For me, that has meant gaining a different perspective on who is in charge. If God knows exactly what is going to happen in my life each day, and he already knows how he will resolve the problems I encounter, I don’t need to worry about them. Or, as one of my close friends puts it, “Nothing will ever happen to me that has not been filtered through the hands of God first.” 

I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to volunteer at VOM this summer. I have met many wonderful people and have learned so much about this wonderful organization and its ministry. Originally, I had asked God to allow me to be a blessing to VOM and to the persecuted church. But I am the one who has been blessed. I have come away more convinced than ever that the peace each of us longs for can only come when we relinquish control of our lives to Jesus Christ.

With my spiritual batteries recharged, I now head back home. My hope is that wherever God may lead me, with his help, I will be able to demonstrate a life filled with his peace in a world that is anything but peaceful. 

May his peace go with you, as well. 

Linn Ann Huntington is a journalism professor at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. A former newspaper reporter, editor and columnist, she likes to spend her summers “having adventures.” This summer, she is doing a six-week volunteer internship at The Voice of the Martyrs, one of her best adventures to date.