Unshakable Peace In An Uncertain World - Gloria Copeland

[Vincent Ballistrea]

Unless you’ve been living in a cave the last few years, you’ve surely heard more than your fair share of doom and gloom about the days that lie before us.

The media has bombarded us with dire predictions about everything from the increase of disease and poor job markets to our planet’s inability to support the growing population.

It’s not hard to understand why people in the world are wringing their hands.

But things should be very different for you and me. We’re children of a God who has guided His people through times of greater uncertainty and confusion than these.

Of course I don’t know for certain what the coming days are going to bring for the people in the world. But I do know what they’re going to be like for my family and me.

They’re going to be days of wholeness, soundness, abundance and increase. In other words, they’re going to be days filled with peace.

And they can be the same for you, too.

Living in God’s Shalom

At this point you may be wondering, How can you be so confident, Gloria?

I’ll tell you. I’m looking forward to the days and weeks ahead because the Word tells me I have a “covenant of peace” with God Himself: “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee” (Isaiah 54:10).

Did you hear that? Your heavenly Father just said His covenant of peace would never be removed from you! He said there is a greater chance of the Rockies disappearing!

The Hebrew word translated peace in this verse literally means “nothing missing, nothing broken.” It is the familiar Hebrew word shalom. Just as it was in the verse above, shalom is often translated “peace.” It is also translated as several other English words. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word shalom is also translated as “prosperity, safety, wellness, welfare and health.” (Much like the New Testament Greek word translated salvation.)

One Hebrew dictionary I read defined shalom as “everything that makes for man’s highest good.” The Hebrew root word from which shalom comes means “to be complete, perfect and full”—in other words: “Nothing missing. Nothing broken.”

Having a shalom covenant means having an unbreakable promise of completeness, peace, health, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, fullness, rest and harmony with the God of the universe.

All of those things are summed up in the word “wholeness.” With this more complete definition of shalom, let’s look a little more closely at some of the places it is mentioned in the Word to see the many wonderful things included in our covenant of peace.

Purchased on the Cross

Look first at Isaiah 53:4-5, where the suffering and death of Jesus, the Messiah, is prophesied:

Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole (The Amplified Bible).

One of the things I want you to notice is that Jesus carried some things for us. He carried sickness and pain, so we could be healed. He carried wounds for our transgressions and iniquities, so we could be forgiven. And He carried chastisement so we could obtain peace (shalom).

Jesus left nothing out. He bore the curse for man so we could be whole and live in peace—spirit, soul and body. This is exactly why 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jesus died to redeem the whole person from the curse of the law. Yes, of course, He redeems your spirit. But He also redeems your mind. He redeems your emotions. And He redeems your body.

When you have a covenant with “the God of peace,” you can expect every area of your life to be complete and whole. Let’s take a look at a few of these areas and see what a difference true peace makes.

Shalom in Your Finances

I mentioned that the word shalom is sometimes translated “prosperity.” If you think about it, you’ll understand why. There’s nothing peaceful about not being able to pay your bills. You can’t have peace if your needs aren’t being met.

To experience lack is to be incomplete. Something vital is missing.

When you owe someone money, that person is incomplete until you can pay your debt. We see this in some of the translations of shalam, the root word in Hebrew from which shalom comes: “recompense,” “restore,” “repay” or “be complete.”

Living in God’s covenant of peace means you have a right to expect “nothing missing” where your finances are concerned.

Shalom Relationships

Now think about your relationships for a moment. God wants all your relationships to be in a state of harmony with no division or strife or tension—in other words—peaceful.

If your relationships are torn by strife, there’s something broken, isn’t there?

Instead of being at rest around your friends or family, you have tension. There may be subjects you don’t dare bring up. When the curse is in full manifestation, you can even become alienated completely from someone you love. Someone you care about can be removed from your life altogether.

Talk about having something missing and broken!

But when the sweet peace of God is extended to your relationships, you have harmony, wholeness and completeness throughout this area of your life. This is especially true where the salvation of your loved ones is concerned. You can lay claim to your rights under your covenant of peace to bring your entire family into the kingdom of God. (He’s even more interested in their salvation than you are.) He wants to make your family whole.

Shalom in Your Body

Finally, I want you to see how the peace of God can and should extend to the physical part of who you are.

As we just saw in Isaiah 53, Jesus carried our sickness so we could enjoy health. And He carried the chastisement necessary for us to attain peace. These two things go together because few things are less peaceful than being sick in your body. What could be more the opposite of “nothing missing, nothing broken” than pain or disease?

When sickness is present, it’s difficult to look forward to spending time with God. It’s a struggle to walk out His highest plans and purposes for your life. It’s hard to be a blessing to others. You’re not thinking of serving the needs of others.

If, as you’re reading this, you’re battling sickness or pain in your body, start seeing yourself as the Scripture sees you—whole and complete. The chastisement necessary to purchase your shalom was laid upon Jesus. He paid the price for you to have peace in your body.

Shalom Living

OK, Gloria, you may be thinking, I’m convinced! But how do I extend God’s peace to all these areas of my life?

That’s a fair question. We need to find out how to go from knowing about shalom to living it. And we can!

We find some important keys to extending the peace of God to every area of our lives in one of the most peace-filled chapters in all of God’s Word. Psalm 91 describes a place in God of total trust and a peace so complete that nothing can touch you.

For example, look at the first two verses: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!” (The Amplified Bible).

The rest of the chapter describes the glorious protection and peace (shalom) that you will experience as a result of dwelling “in the secret place” and saying and believing the Lord is your refuge.

Dwelling in the secret place and abiding under the shadow of the Almighty are permanent, ongoing conditions. When you abide in something, you’re not in and out. You live there.

You can live in God’s own shadow by letting the Word of God abide in your heart and come out of your mouth. As Jesus said in John 15:7: “If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” (The Amplified Bible).

You know you’re abiding in that place when the Word is the first thing to pop out of your mouth when you’re shaken. When you have pain, your first thought is not, Where’s the medicine, but By His stripes I’m healed. When it appears you don’t have enough money to pay your bills, you don’t even think about failure but rather declare “all my needs are met according to Christ’s riches.”

If you’re not there now, be diligent to put the Word first in your life. Spend time in the Word every day and commit it to memory and continually speak it. Ask God to help you start thinking like He thinks and talking like He talks.

You need to say what God’s Word says about your situation.

The next time you hear some “expert” on television predict doom and gloom, counter with your own prediction. Say, “I abide under the Lord’s shadow and I have refuge. No evil will befall me and no calamity will come near my house!”

Don’t just think these things, say them. Doing so is an essential key to extending your precious covenant of peace to every area of life.

Back when our children were young, Ken and I started speaking a wonderful “peace” promise over them. It’s found in Isaiah 54 where, earlier, we learned about our covenant of peace that will outlast the mountains. Just a few verses down we read: “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:13, 17).

We stood on that. We claimed it. We spoke it. And we believed it. “Great shall be the peace of our children!” This means that they shall be whole, complete, lacking nothing and have great well-being.

Today, praise God, our children are all grown and every one of them is serving Him and walking at a higher level than Ken and I were when we were their age. And because they know more than we did, our grandchildren are moving even higher.

That’s the way it is with God and His covenant of peace. You just go higher and higher. As Proverbs 4:18 says: “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

A Bright, Peaceful Future

As you look toward the days ahead, think about your covenant of peace. The precious blood and suffering of Jesus entitles you to live in a state of wholeness, completeness and well-being.

It’s an insult to His sacrifice to settle for anything less.

You can live your life experiencing shalom on a day-to-day basis as you abide in the Word, keeping God’s promises in your heart and in your mouth. Others may be frightened or anxious by the things that are happening around them, but you don’t have to be. Time and time again God has proven His faithfulness to deliver His people from danger.

What a privilege we have through God’s covenant of peace—the ability to live whole. A life where nothing is missing, nothing is broken.

Shalom.