A Faith Journal

When most of us think of peace, it is a lack of conflict or disturbances. However, peace in the Bible has a deeper meaning. The Hebrew term Sar Shalom means Prince of Peace in English. Prince of Peace is one of God’s many names. So, when we look at Shalom or biblical peace, we see that it does mean lack of conflict, but it also means whole or complete. When we seek peace, we are seeking wholeness. To put it in more visual terms, think about your life as a wall. At some point in your life, cracks start to appear in your wall. We have cracks of fear for our children or parents. Cracks of worry for our health or finances. Cracks of anxiety for our worth or abilities. Cracks of untrust in our relationships, including the one we have with God. Over time those cracks multiply and grow larger to the point where we don’t know how the wall can stay up on its own, and we are not strong enough to hold it up on our own. We then fall to our knees and pray for God’s strength and peace. When He provides the peace we seek, the Holy Spirit fills in those cracks to make us whole again. For some reason, we almost always forget that the cracks are being held together by the Holy Spirit and fight Him to take back control of our lives. It never fails though that we must pray for God’s strength again, eventually. I’m not sure why we continue this dance with God off and on throughout our lives, but we do. We get stronger in some of those broken areas, but we are never complete without God in our lives.

Just think, if God had not sent Jesus to live among us, we would’ve never had the Holy Spirit available to us and we would not be the complete individuals that God created us to be. The chaos that we normally feel during this time of year could just be one of our moments of trying to be in control of our walls. Yet I’m already noticing this year, as I am focusing more on hearing from God, those cracks in my wall don’t seem to be as big or concerning to me. God and I are dancing harmoniously this season, instead of in a dance battle where I undoubtedly lose every time.

(Update…while I’m not fully trying to control my wall, I am finding that I am fixating on certain cracks and wondering if I can trust the structure. I know, not trusting God with those cracks is silly, but who among us hasn’t done it themselves before? He never said He would hold our walls completely intact, but that when that part of the wall needs to be removed to move us forward, he will be there with us in the mess. Because sometimes to find peace we have to first work through the chaos. While God and I are not completely harmonious this Christmas, we are not in a dance battle. He’s leading and I’m stepping on his toes from time to time. 😉)

This week, find Shalom in God. Seek Him and He will begin to fill in those cracks to make you whole again. (Or sit with you in the construction zone as the needed repairs happen.)

Sar Shalom,
We seek you today for the wholeness that only you can provide. Our hearts and minds are full of cracks that need your peace to fill. We give our lives and walls to you so that you can complete in us the work that you have planned for us. We are worthy of your peace, and we seek it today, this season, and the rest of our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

P.S. For a video on Shalom/Peace, check out this Bible Project video.