Newsletter: April
The first word that Jesus spoke to his disciples gathered together after his resurrection was the word, "Peace." We read in John 20:19-31 "When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you . . . '"
Peace be with you. How do we find peace of mind? How do we empty our minds of all the worry, fear, resentment, and pain that living in this world brings? How do we find the peace that Christ promises us?
Peace is not found in a snack food. Or a chemical. What are drugs‑‑or alcohol, for that matter‑‑but an inferior way to chemically induce peace of mind?
Jesus said, "Peace be with you." But how and where do we find that peace?
For many of us, peace will come only when we come to grips with our past. Many of us are haunted by guilt, resentments, past failures, and lingering hurts.
Some of us will never have peace of mind until we come to grips with what is in our past. Deep within the cells of our bodies reside the memories of every past sin, every past hurt, every past resentment we have ever experienced. Once in a while these past sins, past hurts, and past resentments rise up into our consciousness and trouble us and frighten us and throw us off balance. We may not even consciously know they are there, but still they eat at us and rob us of our joy. In order to have true peace of mind, some of us will have to come to grips with our past. How do we let go of the past? Christ has taken away our past with his death upon the cross. It's gone. Forever. Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace be with you."
Jesus didn't just cover over our sins; he blotted them out as if they had never happened. Many of us, in order to experience God's peace, will need to come to grips with our past.
Others of us will need to come to grips with our future. Some of us are living troubled lives because we are terrified of what tomorrow may bring. And who can blame us? This is a cruel world. We watch loved ones suffer. We hear of friends who are declining in health and spirit. And we know our day is coming. We are all living on borrowed time, and that is a terrifying thought to one preoccupied with the present world and its challenges. Meanwhile competition in the workplace grows more difficult, health care costs are exorbitant, drugs are all too common in the school yard. Our young people are confronted with violence on the home front and far across the seas. Who can help but be concerned about the future? In the face of such a world, how quickly we forget God's promises.
Robert Strand, in his book, Especially for the Hurting Heart, has a wonderful discussion of Hebrews 13:5 in which we read these encouraging words: "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you!"
Strand asks, "What ever does never mean?" And he notes that in the original language "never" is really a compounding of five negatives. Not that each negative is added to another. Rather, each negative is multiplied by the other. According to Strand, it really should read, "I will never, no, not ever, no never leave you or forsake you!" It is a synergistic compounding negative. It's a forever never which has no exceptions! Then he asks, "What does 'leave' mean?" He says that in the original Greek it means "to leave behind, to abandon, to give up on, to send back." Well then, so far our verse will read: "I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, or send you back!"
Finally he asks, "What does 'forsake' mean?" In the Greek it means, "to leave one in a helpless state, to disregard." It also can be further expanded to include "not relaxing my watchfulness over you." To this point, then, says Strand, our verse, in the full, amplified version reads: "I will never, no not ever, no never give up on you, abandon you, leave you behind, cause you not to survive, leave you helpless, nor shall I ever relax concerning keeping my presence with you!" In other words, we can relax. God will always be there for us.
In order to drive his point home, Robert Strand tells a story from the ministry of Reverend Jess Moody of California. A member of Moody's church named Arthur Ray Ebersol had drowned. The paramedics were working over his body. The frantic father was begging the paramedics and the boy for a sign of life. Moody, as the boy's pastor, had been called along with the medical emergency team. Moody made his way to the circle of medics and people around Arthur who was lying lifeless on this Southern California beach. As the drowned boy was being worked on, suddenly, in the background, everyone there heard a voice . . . clear as crystal, a female voice ringing with hope. All eyes turned in the direction of the song. It was Arthur's mother, sitting in the cab of the paramedics' truck. She was looking up through the open sunroof and affirming her faith skyward in song. Here is what she sang:
No! Never alone. No! Never alone. He promised never to leave me,
Never to leave me alone!
I can't think of a better song to sing at a time like that. God has promised never to leave us alone‑‑never, no not ever, no never leave us behind, abandon us, give up on us, or send us back! If your heart is troubled today about the future, you need to grab hold of that promise‑‑God will never forsake you.
How do we find peace of mind? By coming to grips with our past. Let go of the past. The past is gone. Don't let it rob you of your joy. As for the future‑‑ that is what the whole Easter event is all about. The same God who raised Christ from the dead watches over you and will not leave you or forsake you. "Peace be with you," said the Master. I trust you will leave with that peace today.