The Quiet Onez

³⁷ As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, ³⁸ saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ⁴⁰ He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹ And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side ⁴⁴ and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

What brings us peace in this life?

Before I became Christian, I didn’t realize that was all I was looking for in life. Ironically, even after becoming Christian, I still sought after peace in other ways than finding peace in God.

I originally sought peace by chasing after friends, a sense of status, and romantic relationships. After becoming Christian, I didn’t change that course. When I was hitting rock bottom, again, even after all the comforts I had in this life, I realized I needed God all over again.

I believe that in our day in age here in the United States, it often times will take that “rock bottom” moment for us to come to a true realization of our need for God.

Only then, when we realize our need for God, is when we find true peace. But even then, when peace is found, we need to battle that constant pressure to find peace elsewhere.

Where is my own peace?

I fight against trying to find peace in my relationships, my finances, my security in my job. Yet, knowing that looking to these things for a sense of security in what it will do for me in terms of my life satisfaction, it doesn’t hold up well.

Relationships crumble, finances move all over the place, and jobs could lay you off or fire you at a moment’s notice.

What holds true and steady, consistently, is our eternal relationship with God. We know He loves us so much, He gave His son to die for us. That solidifies how much value we have in the eyes of God.

What is Christianity?

Finding “peace” in God is finding the answer to life. This is something often times a difficult question to answer to non-believers. Even I, to this day, have a difficult time trying to express why there is joy and purpose in knowing and following God.

To best explain it, I like to think of a relationship with a best friend, spouse, or your parents. The time you put into knowing one another and going through tough times together, is time that creates a deeper bound in your relationship.

Like going through anything tough for a long time, there’s joy at the end of it. Knowing the hard commitment you had for one another brings a sense of purpose and meaning.

Now, the relationships we have on this earth are with people who are deeply flawed because of our own setbacks (sins). God on the other hand, is holy and perfect. How incredible it is for a God to desire to know us, to remain deeply committed to us, to love us to the end?

How incredible is it to stick to God’s side and see how He works in your life and in those around you?

Being close to God is knowing true peace.