This month’s moment is by Anders-Petter Sjödin, a priest, missionary, church planter and spiritual formation author.
"We live in a time of peace, stability and predictability," said French president Macron in his opening address in Davos. His irony was met with laughter from the global audience. Is it possible to experience peace in times marked by conflict, war, chaos and anxiety?
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus actually painted a picture of a worry-free life. The prophet Isaiah received a hopeful vision where “the prince of peace” dispelled all darkness. He talked about a double portion; “Shalom-shalom” translated into English as “a perfect peace.” The apostle Paul describes it as “the peace that surpasses all understanding.”
I recently experienced a furious storm in a sailboat on the Atlantic Ocean. My thoughts went to the disciples panicking in a similar mega storm. Jesus said to them; “Why are you so afraid?” And to the waves he said: “Be still!” How could Jesus sleep in a storm? Because that what was in him – peace - was stronger than what was outside him - the storm. His peace changed the environment.
So, it is with us. You cannot give what you don’t have. Where Jesus came from there were no storms. The worlds peace is the absence of conflict, crisis and problems. Jesus’ peace is not the absence of storms, but the presence of himself in the mist of storms. Peace is not an ocean without storms, but rather to have Jesus in the boat WHEN it storms.
During the last three years my wife, Pamela, and I have had a close-up experience of three wars. We have ministered near the battlefields of Ukraine. From the worst war in Europe since the World War II, we sailed to Israel, where we on October 7 experienced the worst massacre of Jews since World War II. We recently ministered to young people in Tanzania who had experienced the worst crisis since their independence. Thousands of young people were killed on the streets of Dar es Salaam.
“Where you not afraid”, people asked? No, we actually experienced “the peace that surpasses all understanding.” We cannot explain it, because it's supernational. You cannot receive it intravenously. You cannot even spend 300 hours with Dallas Willard (which I have) and expect that it will transform you. There is a place where you can experience total peace. It’s not geographical. It is in His presence. It’s to consciously organize our lives, our intake, our thought patterns, our fantasy, our habits, our lifestyle and our conceptual world around the Prince of Peace.