The world defines peace as the absence of something; the absence of war, the absence of strife and fighting, or the absence of dissension. The Bible defines peace as the presence of something; the presence of calm in a storm, the presence of quietness amid the tumult of our earthly trials, and the state of resolution achieved by the presence of a right relationship with God. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer who has accepted Christ’s offer for the forgiveness of sins and trusted in the Almighty God. Even so, if I as a believer do not accept and embrace this peace, I continue to live in the “absence of something”. God is the only source of true peace, Christ is how true peace is made available to me, and the Holy Spirit is the giver and sealer of peace in my heart.
My husband and I have spent many days hiking together and we have seen the narrow ravines filled with large boulders that have tumbled down the side of a mountain. The first such ravine we visited together was Johnson Shut-ins in the Missouri Ozarks. (1) In August of 2016, we visited Ouzel Falls in Colorado and found the above gem at the end of our trail. Shut-ins are ravines filled with large rocks and the water is carried with great force crashing in and around the boulders, causing white water to spray high into the air and then to fall rushing down the ravine with the sound of a freight train. (2)
Those boulders represent the trials in my life that tend to be so large and looming that I am not able to see around them and that tend to crush me so that I find it difficult to breathe. The water represents the flow of God’s peace in my life. The water is not deterred by the boulders and flows freely in and around them finding its way and filling all cracks and crevices. Not only is the water unhindered, but the speed by which it flows is affected by the steepness and narrowness of the ravine. As the slope of the ravine increases and the width of the ravine narrows, the flow of the water increases in speed. God’s peace is like the water in a ravine filled with boulders. It is not deterred by the circumstances of my life. It fills my being and flows down deep into the cracks and crevices of my soul. The steeper and narrower the ravine, the greater the peace available to me, which is like the water flowing, splashing, spraying over the rocks with all abandonment.
This is not unlike God’s flow of peace in my life. A river may have areas that are relatively flat and smooth but may also have areas that drop steeply in elevation and become rough and rocky. So goes my life. I have quiet times and times when the going is steep and rocky. God intends to bless and enrich my life with this flow of peace in every circumstance. I need to stop the busyness of my life and take a moment to ensure the flow of God’s peace is in my life. I need to declare God as the source of all my peace. I am thankful that Christ spanned the gap for me. Now, I am no longer God’s foe, but in fact, I am His friend. I relish the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life, supernatural and unexplainable, that seals my life with His peace. I am protected, I am pardoned, and I am gifted with peace.
I have always thought of “peace like a river” to be the calm flat stretch of water where one could fish on the mud flats or the place where one could skip a rock over the smooth, glassy surface of the water. (3) Perhaps though, God intends it to be like the part of the river I can hear from afar. I remember hiking through a forest, hearing at a distance a mighty roar, and I began to anticipate what would be found at the end of the trail. With each step, the river became louder and louder until my feet were at the edge of the ravine, and I was looking down at the water crashing around the rocks. The sound at this point was deafening, and speaking to anyone was impossible. Could it be that God intends peace to roar into my life and drown out the sounds of sorrow, hopelessness, and despair or the negative thoughts of worry and dread like the water rushing through a ravine? God wants me to hear his voice and his voice only. I am thinking now about what it would be like to have God’s peace flowing into my life when everything is calm in the flat stretches, but also flowing through my life with a mighty roar like a river coursing its way down a ravine when my life has become filled with grief, sorrow, or despair.
God intends for his river of peace to flow into my life, on and on, without end. God is my Prince of Peace. His peace can permeate my life, all the days and nights, into all the light and all the darkness. God’s peace shouts and roars through my days unencumbered, crashing into my boulders, drowning out my sorrow, fear, and hopelessness. His name shall be Prince of Peace. He has caught my eye, and I cannot turn away. He floods my life with His peace, and I am caught up in His embrace. I am held close to the heart of God. I am yours, O my God, and you are mine. I am tumbling through the white water, held tight and secure by the Almighty God. Forever and forever, time without end.
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- https://mostateparks.com/park/johnsons-shut-ins-state-park
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shut-in
- Isaiah 48:17-18 This is what the LORD says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea….” (NIV)