One of the things that is rare to find in this world is peace. There are so many wars between countries, religions, ethnic groups, and cultures. Even when we aren’t fighting, our minds are constantly worrying about this or that. We stress about work and then go home and stress out about our family. Then we take a vacation to relax and we end up stressing out about that as well. How can we find any peace in this crazy world?
There are many emotions that are associated with being without peace. Some of these emotions are fear, anger, jealousy, frustration, helplessness, and guilt. We can conquer fear with hope, anger with love, jealousy with humility, frustration with patience, helplessness with perseverance, and guilt with forgiveness. We should try to discover what negative emotion(s) we need to work on the most and what positive emotions to incorporate more in our lives. Also, when we put our priorities in the correct order, we will more easily find peace. If our top priority is anything other than becoming a saint, we will ultimately not find true peace.
When Jesus appeared to His Apostles after His resurrection, they were probably feeling many those same negative emotions. They didn’t know what was going to happen and were fearful. They probably felt some helplessness, frustration, and anger as well. Jesus appeared and said, “Peace be with you” not only once, but twice to them. He wanted to let them know that He was well and there with them. He also wanted them to be at peace before He sent them out into the chaotic world to do His work.
No matter what happens in life, know that God is with us. We live in a crazy world and tragedies will inevitably happen, but we can persevere through them easier if we keep our eyes fixed on God and Heaven. If we make our foundation something material or rely on our own self, we will be left with nothing or end up alone when everything collapses around us, but if we make our foundation God, He will always be there to support us, even in our most desperate moments. May the peace of Christ be with all of you.
