Featured Favorite: The Cost of Peace

Are we depending on ideal circumstances for a transient peace? Peace on our terms?

Peace between warring nations comes with a hard-fought truce. Peace between the oppressor and those afraid to resist comes at the price of slavery.

Peace pursued constantly through pleasure and consumption is a fantasy that leads to obsession with whatever it takes to live stress-free:  comfort foods, constant distraction of entertainment, addictions.

We strive to live so that we don’t hurt anywhere. Our relationships work to our advantage. We have everything we want on our happiness checklist. For now.

Where is peace is our crises?

We ask God for peace. We ask him to take away our pain and struggles so that we can have peace. Yet in the middle of a health crisis, a faith crisis or a relationships crisis, where is God? We find him there with us. Like the soldier in battle or the cowering slave, we stay poised to discover the peace that defies our understanding—and our control. No one can take that peace away from us. Peace that doesn’t depend on shifting circumstances. Peace that isn’t vulnerable to the enemies of joy that snatch that conditional peace from us.

Our prayers often dictate to God what to give or take away to meet our low standard of peace.  Can we trust him to give us not what we want but what we need? And that need is to discover the high peace of his Kingdom!

Ask the Prince of Peace

We can ask the Prince of Peace, who paid with his life for our peace, how we can live in lasting peace. He tells us in Matthew 14:17, “The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy, in the Holy Spirit.”  He invites us into his Kingdom.

We enter his Kingdom when we surrender our lives, our circumstances, our aches and strivings — the elements we try to manipulate to capture the illusion of peace. Although this letting go is difficult, we have his peace only in the measure that we let him reign in our lives. Surrendering to his will settles us in the arms of Jesus. In his will is our peace.

Living in the will of God brings an inner peace and joy that the world cannot give, cannot understand and cannot take from us. Neither calling a truce nor afraid to resist, we set our hearts on him and abide in him in peace. That peace eludes us when we set our hearts on things or persons we’ll never control.

Jesus is the Master of the Universe. He is the source of everything good. In him we have all that we will ever need. He can give us anything he chooses, but first he wants our hearts. He will not give us our heart’s desires until we have first given him our hearts. He paid the cost for our peace and there is no peace apart from him.

What illusions of peace are costing you the genuine peace of the Kingdom?

(© 2013 Nancy H C Ward) 

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Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward writes about conversion, Christian community, and Catholicism. After earning a journalism degree, she worked for the Diocese of Dallas newspaper and the Archbishop Sheen Center for Evangelization, then began her own editing service. She’s a regular contributor to CatholicMom.com, SpiritualDirection.com, CatholicWritersGuild.com, NewEvangelizers.com and a contributing author to The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion. Now, through her Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story: Tools, Tips, and Testimonies workshops, retreats, book, and DVD, she shares her conversion story at Catholic parishes and conferences, equipping others to share their own stories.

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8 Responses

  1. you hit all the important points without effort- your writing flows PEACEFULLY

  2. Diane says:

    Inspiring and true words to keep us on focus. God is the ONLY source of peace. He is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE…as he says “I AM.” Thank you for sharing your gift.

  3. Leslie Lynch says:

    Profound post, Nancy. Peace is not freedom from stress. Of course I know that, but your description of our incessant striving to relieve stress by using comfort food, constant distraction of entertainment, and addictions is spot on. Thanks for the food for thought this morning.

    • Nancy Ward says:

      Yes, peace is such a breathtaking gift of the Spirit that I could many blogs about it! One I have in mind is St. Augustine, “Peace is not the absence of activity but the tranquility of order.” More food for thought.

  4. Sharon says:

    You hit the nail on the head, Nancy. Great article!

    • Nancy Ward says:

      You must know that although you are one of the busiest women I know, you are one of the most peaceful, so this means a lot coming from you.

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