Peace Has a Price

Yesterday I drove past this sign on a lawn that had a Bible verse on it. I didn't really like it as a lawn sign - mostly because it was a little legalistic but it got me thinking about peace. So many people try to manufacture or believe in a superficial peace. People think peace comes from your surroundings or it's a state you can create without any cost. I am not talking about the cost of a spa or a secluded mountain vacation. I am talking about a different cost.

Just think about external peace in the world. Most people think you can just "have" peace. Let's take NYC for example. NYC used to be a VERY dangerous city. Now people didn't just go out and get on their soap boxes and speak a very touching and heartfelt message about peace. No way. There was a major price. Many officers risked their lives and probably lost their lives to crack down on crime. They didn't do this by handing out roses and love letters. It was a war. Out of that came a more peaceful time. When Germany invaded France during WW II, I don't think running up to the Nazi's with a bear hug and chocolates and having a heart to heart about how much you loved them would have really solved the problem. There was a price to pay to bring that country back to peace. Many, many people paid a price in the form of their lives. When communist governments falsely persecuted their citizens and many Christians, I don't think having a chat about how much the persecuted ones wanted peace and going through family photo albums to persuade the torturers about what great people they were would have persuaded them. But yet some fought that evil government and many lost their lives. You see, peace has a price. We often forget this because we live in peace and someone has paid the price before us.

Then there is internal peace. This also has a price. It's not removing everybody and everything that grades against you the wrong way. I think Americans look at internal peace this way because most of us live in external peace. But this lifestyle actually demonstrates my point. You can have someone that seems to have and lead a peaceful life but internally they are tortured. And it's not all about "intention" or "willing your own life". How does a young woman who is born in the Sudan "will" her parents to be murdered by an enemy tribe. How does a young couple in America will for their child to be diagnosed with a terminal disease. No one wills for a loved one to be taken from this earth way too early. A Christian man didn't will to be tortured in a communist prison for decades. These things are part of different people's courses. It's called life. Someone paid a price so we could have peace in the midst of these trials and heartaches that all of us face. Jesus Christ paid the price of His life and shed his blood to pay for our sins so we could have a peace that passes understanding. That doesn't mean things don't hurt and there is no pain. It's just a deep peace in spite of the pain. That's how Richard Wurmbrand endured over 14 years of hard torture in prison under Romanian Communism. He wasn't happy about it. Peace does not equal happiness. He was able not to lose his mind when he had guards beat him and urinate on him. He was able not to lose his mind when he was put in a cell for years that he could only lie down in with a light bulb blaring in his face. Read Tortured for Christ. This peace comes from another source. It does not come from man. That's how a man can have all of the material possessions in the world and have a wonderful family and still go out and commit a horrible crime. Peace has a price. It doesn't come from flowery words, self help books or happy feelings. True peace comes from God.