- Duke Jeyaraj
Michael Douglas had it all. Fame and the money to with it, he had it - he was an Academy award winning actor and among the highest paid actors in Hollywood. 'Sizzling' sex outside of marriage, he had it - he was part of the one of most watched movie sex scenes in the planet. A beautiful wife, he had her - he was married to Catherine Zeta Jones, a gorgeous actress. Yet, he was on the hunt for peace. He reportedly planned a visit to India hunting for peace (The Times of India, Hyderabad Times, October 22, 2010). All the things he already had apparently did not quench his inner thirst or give him permanent peace.
What robs our hearts of its peace? Many a time it is sin. The Bible, a Book from God to us in a language we can understand, talks about this. "The wicked are like the tossing sea," a Bible prophet wrote (Isa 57:20). Yes, when you and I commit a sin, our heart loses its peace and we feel as if we tossed up and down in a turbulent stormy sea.
What gives true and lasting peace? A relationship with Jesus. A living daily walk with the one who was called 'Prince of Peace' in the Bible (Isa 9:6). A Priest named Zachariah compared Jesus the Sunrise from on High who came down to guide us in the 'way of peace' (Luke 1:78,79). Jesus promised his disciples his own peace; He said, "My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives..." (John 14:27). The peace that Jesus give is far different from temporary peace that the world and its pleasures give. It is permanent. It does not depend on happy circumstances or swank comforts around. It is born out of a deep relationship with Him.
Your life may in turmoil. You may caught in a storm even as you read these words. The storm of family dispute. The storm of rebellious children. The storm of financial difficulty. The storm of your loved one betraying you. The storm of addiction to destructive sinful habits. But let Jesus get into your life boat. And allow him to speak to your storm. And then, trust me, there would be great calm (Mark 4:39). Your problem may still remain. But in your heart, there would be great peace.
I know what I am talking about here. I have experience what I am talking about. Let me elaborate: Before I left my worldly job, it was working in a couple of Call Centres so that I could support my family and ministry with the money I earned from there. I also ran three minute fellowships in Office.
It was my dream at that point in time to work for Google's office in Hyderabad, India, the city where I live. Some of the most modern youth of my city, the group I wanted to touch with the message of Jesus Christ, worked there. I got through fairly difficult rounds of interviews that came first-up. I reached the stage where I was to have the very final round of interview with a senior manager with Google. She was the final barrier I had to get past, in order to start working in Google. I prayed to the Lord Jesus to give me grace to get through in that pivotal interview. But alas, I could not. I was informed that I did not make it. I was sad. But I still had the strange peace which Jesus alone could have given me at that hour of dour disappointment which could have easily made me very sour. The calm that my Creator gave me that hour did not depend on the circumstances around me. I again experienced this heart-warming calm when my application for a US Visa was rejected in August 2010. I was to go to the US on a trip fully-sponsored by a Christian organisation. I had to play the role of a coach in a large youth event. As I walked back in the long passage, minutes after this heart-breaking rejection in the US Consulate Office in Hyderabad, I was very gloomy. But pretty soon, deep down, a deep assurance swept over my heart that told me what had happened was actually for my ultimate good. I was at peace with myself because I had the peace that Jesus Christ had given me - a peace that I still had, no matter what happened around me! What the Bible told taught about Jesus I found to be true with my own life experience - he is the Lord of peace who gives peace at 'all time and in every way' (II Thess 3:16, NIV).
To give you this peace , this calm will only come after your sins are forgiven, Jesus went to the Cross. The Scripture declares, "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isa 53:5). When Jesus hung on the Cross, bloodied, bruised, bashed-up and broken, he did what it takes to give you peace - peace on the inside. The blood he shed on the Cross is your passport to peace. You need to be forgiven of your sins by his blood. Where is peace? It is not in fame. It is not in the dame. It is not in a sex-game. Ask Michael Douglas, he would tell you, if he were honest. It is in that Name. Only in that Name, the Bible declares (Acts 4:12). The name of Jesus. He is the Prince of Peace and He alone can give you peace. Would you repent from your sin and trust him right now?
Jesus had this to say about the stiff-necked people of Jerusalem - the people who repeatedly rejected him: He said, “If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:42, Common English Bible). They had rejected Jesus, the way to true inner peace repeatedly and now it was too late for them to find that peace - this was Jesus' point here! What a costly miss! Right now, even as you read this piece on peace, you have an opportunity to discover true peace that is only available only through Jesus Christ. But if you keep rejecting him, a time will come in your life, when it would be too late to come to him to discover this amazing peace. After you die (death can come to any one of us, anytime, please remember!) it would be too late. After Jesus comes back to this earth to judge everyone, it would be too late. After the Holy Spirit stops speaking to the repeatedly stubborn you, it would be too late. At that sad point in your life, you would be hopelessly meandering toward eternal hell - a lake of burning fire and sulphur where you would have lost forever your peace! But now, you have an opportunity to avoid all that by coming to Christ in true penitence to receive lasting peace!
