The third fruit of the spirit Paul identifies in Galatians 5:22 is PEACE.
When we think of peace, we think of the absence of conflict. But peace is more than this. It also means order and a sense of personal security. It means one is safe from violence and other disruptions that can threaten one’s well-being. When we put our trust and obedience in God, then we can know with confidence that we are in good hands.
The peace that God promises is not the absence of all trouble. What Christ promises us rather is that when we find ourselves in the midst of our trouble, we can know that God is with us, offer us a sense of confidence and strength we need even when everything around us is unraveling.
It’s a peace that comes in knowing deep down “that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
Do you know the story behind the hymn “It is Well With My Soul”? The man who wrote this hymn, Horatio G. Spafford, lost his family at sea. He was a successful businessman and had sent his family from America to Europe for a vacation. They went ahead while he stayed behind and planned to join them later. Tragically, however, the ship that his wife and children were on sank on its way across the Atlantic Ocean. The ship went down, and his loved ones perished.
When Spafford received the news of the loss of his family, he went across the sea himself and he instructed the captain of the ship to show him the place where his family went down to a watery grave. While he was standing over the spot, he got out his pen and his legal pad, and he wrote those words to the hymn, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”
That’s the sort of peace that God can provide to you and me. It is a profound sense of order and well-being and wholeness that comes as a gift for every believer that knows him.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Steve