Optimist Roundtable

By Martha Sykes

Jesus said, “ My peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” These words were spoken to the disciples the night before Jesus was crucified but they are words for us today also.

So many of us look for peace in this world. We look for safe places where there is nothing that can bother us. We look for the quieting of our hearts, which sometimes are so disturbed by our fears. We look for assurance, for hope, and for joy. These words from Jesus give us a peace of knowing that in the midst of turmoil, there is a rock that can shelter us, and a power that can spread Hid wings over us and keep us safe.

Many times we pray for peace, not only for ourselves, but inside our hearts, our families, or our communities. We have prayed for peace in our world, many times, for an end to conflicts, or to end so much of the violence that is happening today in our world. It is a good thing to pray for peace and an important thing for us to do.

We have a presence of the Holy Spirit, that comforts us and helps us to know that peace of Christ. That is what Jesus meant when He said my peace I leave with you. He gives us peace with God through His love, through His life and death, and His resurrection.

As Jesus said, at the beginning of his ministry, “Behold, the kingdom of God is at hand.” It was through Him that the blind received their sight, the lame walked and the prisoners were set free.

Peace is found in living a life of faith. Peace is found in walking according to the words of Christ. Peace is found in trusting in the living God and in His everlasting love.

We don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. The words of Jesus concerning His peace are not easy words. His peace is there for us. It is a piece that last, a piece that triumphs, a piece that heals, and that is not something that the world can give us. It can only come to us from God.