Enjoying the peace of God

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remember your sins no more." - Isaiah 43:25

John Ruskin, the English poet, once wrote, "You may either win your peace or buy it: win it, by resistance to evil; buy it, by compromise with evil." I think Ruskin would agree with the premise that you can only find peace one of two ways: either live in a castle or fortress that is so secure, so strong and so impenetrable that no one–not even God Himself–could ever come through, or make peace with your enemies.

Obviously, the first option is not a possibility. But the second is. "Dear Dr. Sala," wrote a friend of Guidelines. "More than anything else I would like to know that I have peace with God. Since 1963, I have been producing Guidelines for Living broadcast on radio, aired on TV, and printed in newspapers. In these intervening years, only God knows how many have responded, often revealing intimate details of their lives. Many of those who write tell about the unrest and discontentment of a broken relationship with God: the girl who felt estranged from God since she aborted her unborn child; the dad who walked out on his family for another woman; the teenager who feels cheapened and distraught over continued sexual escapades; and the elderly lady who feels that what she did as a youth will keep her from heaven. All of these individuals want to make peace with God but are not sure how to do it."

How do you make peace with God? In war, both sides of the conflict draw lines and build fortifications with a no-man’s-land in between. Sometimes we build fortifications in our lives and never allow the sunlight of God’s love to penetrate them. We raise the drawbridge and hurl our angry thoughts and words against God whom we think is our enemy.

A long time ago, God sent His Son to make peace with us. He walked across that vast no-man’s land–that dark valley which separates us from God, which separates mortal from immortal–into our world. He made it very clear that His Father is not an angry enemy, trying to get us.

First, you must understand that God wants you to have peace with Him. God’s Son came to show you how to find His peace, to drive away the darkness of fear and the bitterness of loneliness.

What caused our separation from God? Long ago Isaiah said, "But your iniquities have separated you from God; your sin have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). It was he who also wrote that we have gone astray as sheep, which broke the peace and created our loneliness.

The second step to peace with God is to understand that God made Christ to be sin for you so that you might be acceptable without guilt, in God’s sight. This enables God to forgive your sins, your rebellion and your wrongdoing; but forgiveness isn’t automatic. You need to confess your sins and ask for His forgiveness. That’s your part, and it’s the equivalent of running up the white flag and calling a truce to the war.

Then what happens? God says, "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more" (Isaiah 43:25). That’s good news, friend. When you know that God has forgiven you, His peace fills your heart. - Resource reading: 2 Peter 2