January 21 -- "Serenity Now"

 Today’s Reading: Psalm 37

"Serenity Now"

“Serenity Now!” That was the humorous cry of the fictional character, Frank Costanza. And, it is the cry of billions of people around the world looking for just a moment of peace and serenity in their lives.

There is a profound lack of peace and unrest in our world today. People are simply not at peace with their governments, their workplace, their relationships, and, most importantly, themselves. People are struggling with finding rest for their souls. Finding any kind of inner peace or world peace seems to elude billions of people. People are anxious and worried about many things. Even Christians at times experience troubled hearts and lack of peace and serenity. But that’s not what God intended. Our loving Heavenly Father, knowing our propensity towards anxiety and worry, has made a way for every human being to experience “serenity now.”

Peace, in the Bible, comes in four “flavors.” First, is peace with God. Peace with God is, at its core, a spiritual reconciliation between family members. It's a restored relationship between our Heavenly Father and His wayward and rebellious children. The way to peace with God is only through faith in Jesus Christ – “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

The second form of peace is cessation of war between fighting factions, countries, or people. We refer to this elusive experience as “world peace.” It is something we all long for and pray for. True world peace can only come when the people and governments of the world submit themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Only then will peace reign.

The third type of peace is inner peace, or serenity. We call this the “peace of God.”  It is a spiritual calmness that invades your soul and replaces your anxiety and worry. This type of inner peace comes only to the follower of Christ and only when they are trusting God with the affairs of their life – “And the peace of The Christ will rule in your hearts, to which you are called in one body” (Colossians 3:15) If you are dealing with unrest and worry in your life, today is the day Jesus is calling you to “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Take a moment right now to be still in the presence of God. Lay your burden down. Ask Him to remove your unrest and replace it with His indescribable peace. Trust Him with your troubles and rejoice in His peace.

Finally, we come to future peace. This is the peace spoken of in Psalm 37:11. On the day when we enter into God’s eternal presence, one of our most remarkable experiences will be being astounded at the “abundance of peace.” We will simply be blown away by Heaven’s perfect peace and calmness and serenity. It will be like nothing we’ve ever experienced! For sure, that will be “serenity now!”  What an experience this will be. It will be beyond our greatest expectations as we “delight ourselves in abundant peace!”