The Peace We Keep Chasing
We have been singing about peace for generations. John Lennon told us to “give peace a chance.” Cat Stevens imagined a “Peace Train,” as if peace were something we all needed to climb aboard. The Eagles offered “I Wish You Peace,” almost like a blessing for the storms we all eventually face. But if peace were as simple as putting it into a song, don’t you think we would have found it by now?
The problem is not that we do not want peace. Everybody wants peace. We want peace in the world, peace in our homes, peace in our churches, peace in our minds, peace in our relationships, peace in our bodies, peace in our souls. The problem is peace can be elusive, ironic, and even almost absurd.
Don MacLean once said, “Washington has a large assortment of peace monuments. We build one after every war.” Isn’t that true? We are very good at honoring peace after conflict, but not so good at becoming peaceful people before conflict begins.
Kurt Vonnegut said, “There is no peace, I’m sorry to say. We find it. We lose it. We find it again. We lose it again.” Most of us know exactly what that feels like. We find peace for a moment, and then the email comes, the sharp comment is made, the diagnosis changes, our child struggles, the bill arrives, or the conflict starts over again, and suddenly the peace is gone.
The issue is not whether we want peace, but whether we understand what peace is. Much of what we call peace is really quiet, escape, control, distraction, or avoidance. However, if those become the foundation of our peace, then our peace will be a fragile peace.
Fragile Peace is False Peace
I am sure all of us have experienced just how fragile peace can be. We know what it’s like to sit in a quiet room, but still not have a quiet soul. We know how to avoid the hard conversation while still carrying the tension from the conflict. We know how we can get through one stressful season, but immediately start worrying about the next before anything even happens.
This is why peace can be so frustrating. We keep thinking, “If I can just get through this, then I’ll have peace. If the calendar slows down. If the conflict resolves. If the kids are okay. If the money works out. If the diagnosis improves. If the difficult person changes. If the future becomes clearer. Then I’ll have peace.”
However, if our peace depends on everything around us staying calm, then peace will always feel just out of reach or like holding onto sand.
So when Paul says in Galatians 5 that “the fruit of the Spirit is…peace,” we need to ask, what kind of peace is this? How is it different than fragile peace?
Jesus is our Peace
The answer begins with Jesus.
Isaiah said the Messiah would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9.6). When Jesus was born, the angels announced, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2.14).
So when Paul says in Galatians 5 that “the fruit of the Spirit is…peace,” he is not talking about a vague feeling of calm. He is talking about the peace that comes from the Prince of Peace; peace that comes from a person.
Jesus is clear that His peace is different from the peace the world offers. On the night before His execution, He told His disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14.27).
Think about when He says that. It is not after the resurrection, but Jesus says this on the night before the cross. Before the betrayal, the trial, the nails, and their whole world is turned upside down.
This means two big things for us:
First, Jesus does not give peace the way the world gives peace.
- The world gives peace when circumstances settle down, but Jesus gives peace when circumstances
are about to fall apart. - The world gives peace when conflict ends, but Jesus gives peace even as He walks toward the
cross. - The world gives peace when we feel in control, but Jesus gives peace when we finally surrender
control to Him.
Second, our deepest problem is not our crowded calendar. It is not a stressful week. It is not that difficult a person in our lives. Those things matter, and can be painful, but they are not the root. Our deepest problem is sin, which has separated us from God, fractured our souls, and bent our hearts away from the One who made us.
And that is exactly what Jesus does for us at the cross. Paul writes, “God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross” (Col. 1.20). That is the foundation of our peace. Before we have peace in our circumstances, before we have peace in our relationships, and before we have peace in our minds, we are given the peace of the cross.
Jesus takes the sin that separates us. He carries the guilt that haunts us. He bears the judgment we could not survive. He brings us back into harmony with our Creator. This is why His peace is not fragile. It does not rest on everything going our way. It rests on what Christ has already done.
And the good news is, if Jesus can heal the deepest breach between us and true peace, then no lesser trouble is beyond His peace. That does not mean life becomes easy. It means we are no longer alone, no longer condemned, and no longer cut off from the source of life. The Prince of Peace has made peace by the blood of His cross, and now His Spirit begins to grow that peace within us.
Let the Peace of Christ Rule
So how does this peace grow in us?
It begins by receiving what Jesus gives. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14.27). Therefore, peace is not first something we achieve, but something we receive from Jesus.
But peace must also be allowed to rule. Paul says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3.15). That word “let” matters. It means peace can be given to us and still not be given authority in us. Anxiety can still drive our thoughts. Fear can still make our decisions. Resentment can still control the script of our lives.
Part of our formation is learning to pause and ask, “What is ruling me right now? The peace of Christ, or the panic of the moment? The peace of Christ, or my need to be right? The peace of Christ, or the old fear that if I don’t control this, everything will fall apart?”
Peace is not passive. Peacemakers do not avoid hard conversations. They enter them differently. They share the truth without trying to wound. They listen to understand, not only to prepare a defense. They forgive without pretending the wound did not happen. And when bad news comes, peace does not tell us to deny the pain, minimize the diagnosis, or act like grief is weakness. It teaches us to carry the pain in the presence of Jesus. It helps us grieve without despair, wait without panic, and face tomorrow without needing to control it.
The fruit of peace is a life that becomes increasingly settled in Christ. A peaceful Christian is not someone whose life is easy. A peaceful Christian is someone whose life is anchored in Jesus. The storm will still come. The diagnosis will still be frightening. The relationship may still be strained. The future may still be unclear. However, underneath it all are the everlasting arms of Jesus.