“I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid.”
Peace. I can surely say that this is the main dream of humanity in this world, where we live in very hard and difficult times. Who thought that someday the terrible wars would take our peace, would destroy our lives? Who thought that someday Russia and the Ukraine, almost one Slavic nation would start the war and have the terrible results? Who thought that Israel and Palestine would have a destroying war? We Armenians know about war. We have experienced terrible wars and their results, and still, we have the danger of war in this area. I surely say that we Armenians need peace much more. But unfortunately, we see that in today’s world it is not possible to avoid wars, because people are evil, especially the geopolitical leaders have become like tools in the hands of devil.
The word “peace” has important meaning in itself. We need peace in our lives, in our families, in our societies, in our countries. But the most important is this: we need peace first in our hearts. And it is a fact that the only source of true peace is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
As Christians, we know the truth and we realize that as long as we live on this earth, wars can be any time. Even our Lord said, “You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places” (Matthew 24:6-7). Our Lord still says to us, “Don’t be afraid!”
But we have His great promise, that only He can provide us the true peace, which comes from the Lord. We have His encouraging promise also, “I have told you these things so that you can have peace in Me. In this world, you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world” (John 16:33). And this is a really encouraging promise. Yes, the Lord Jesus is the source of peace, and He only can give us the true and real peace. Let us be brave and trust Him only, and surely He will give His peace to our hearts.
By Artur Ispiryan, Bible League International partner, Armenia
