Peace-Shalom

“I form the light, and create darkness; I make shalom, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things.”-Isaiah-45:7

What is that one thing everyone in the world is frantically searching for but cannot seem to find?  Of course, the answer is peace.  People will sometimes do the craziest things to get some peace in their lives.  Ironically, the actions many people take produce the opposite results.  Some will go chasing after riches while wrecking their health and alienating their family in the process.  Others will turn to drugs and alcohol.  Others will turn to sex.  Others will buy self-help book after self-help book and find that not only are they not any happier, they’re also broker.  We’ve all read the stories about stockbrokers jumping off of skyscrapers and rock stars putting bullets in their heads.  Everyday our newspapers report about how another Mideast peace negotiation between Palestine and Israel has broken down.  One can get on the internet and watch a video stream of a hostage captured by Islamic terrorists literally getting his head sawed off.  The divorce rate in the US now exceeds 50%.  People are losing their jobs left and right.  I could go on and on an on but I think its pretty clear that the world has anything but peace and the many things that people do to gain peace just don’t seem to be working.

However, what does the Bible have to say about gaining peace?  Well, before we answer that question, it is more important to first see how the Bible defines peace.  The Hebrew word from which the word peace in English is usually rendered is “shalom”.  Many of you are likely aware that Shalom is used idiomatically in Israel to mean “Hello” or “Goodbye”.  However, biblically speaking, there is no one word in English that can do justice to the actual and overall meaning of this word as it embodies a broad range of nuances.  The words peace and grace really just scratch the surface in terms of what this word meant to an ancient Israelite.

Probably the best way to explain it is to say that this word refers to one’s total sense of well-being with much emphasis on the word “total”.  Shalom means feeling very positive about one’s future, it means having health and having more than enough money to have one’s needs met, and it also means having peace of mind and grace from G-d.  I think the idea of having a healthy balance is at play here.  Shalom isn’t just connected to money.  It isn’t just connected to health.  It isn’t just connected to joy.  It is all of these things working in harmony with G-d at the center.  However, one important point is that without G-d, you could never really have shalom even if you had money and health etcetera.  In order to have real shalom, G-d had to be at the center of your life.

I think the biggest mistake the secular humanists and evolutionists make is to treat a human being as if he or she is only a physical entity.  However, the Bible makes it clear that we have a soul.  And this soul needs to be nourished just as much as our physical body does.  That is why purely material pursuits after only money and sex will ultimately never really satisfy.  Furthermore, if you are a believer, you now also have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, which can be a source of joy or grief depending upon how you live your life. 

Have you ever felt joyous for no particular reason at all?  You were just in a great mood and just felt so positive and euphoric.  This is kind of what having shalom from G-d feels like.  By the way, I’ve heard that heroin addicts experience a similar high.  However, as believers, we don’t need to turn to heroin.  All we have to do is open our Bibles and pray.  Isn’t that great?!

L-rd,

I pray that we would turn to You and only You for shalom in our lives.  Yes money, sex and food are very important.  But L-rd let us not turn them into idols.  Let these things be the positive byproducts of our faith in you.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.-Matthew 6:31-34

Amen.