The Road Not Chosen: Peace Security In My Lifetime

Doesn't that sound wonderful? Isn't that what we all want, peace & security in our lifetime? No one wants to live with war and turmoil.

I've been a Christ follower for 26 years, been in several churches and on staff at most of them. I've seen good pastors, great pastors, & evil pastors. Unfortunately, I've experienced church splits and been in churches that would have been better off closed. I've been on staff at a large Word of Faith church where the pastor was greedy & corrupt. I've been in a church where the pastor was compassionate and kind. I've been in a church where the pastor started out kind but turned manipulative & cruel. I've pretty much seen it all when it comes to churches.

When we've been through tough times as Christians something in us wants things to just be fine, with no conflict, only calm. Unfortunately sometimes we knowingly, or unknowingly, compromise to get that peace. King Hezekiah, in the Book of Isaiah, had seen God do amazing things, from delivering Israel from the Assyrian's to being healed of a deadly disease. In fact, soon after being healed, Hezekiah had visitors from Babylon. He showed them all his treasures: the gold, the weapons, the palace. After they left, Isaiah asked him about the visitors & what they had seen. Hezekiah said "I showed them all my treasures!" Isaiah then tells him something that should have made Hezekiah fall on his face & beg for mercy. The prophet says the Babylonians are going cart everything away, even the king's own descendants. Not only that, but they will become eunuchs & slaves! What does Hezekiah say? "Well, at least there will be peace & security in my lifetime." (Is. 39:8)

Sometimes I'm like King Hezekiah. I want people to see all my cool stuff. I want to live a nice, quiet life. I don't want to think about what happens after I'm gone. The only hitch in that is that I'm a Christ follower, meaning I'm suppose to follow in His footsteps & example. One thing Jesus didn't have was peace & security in His earthly lifetime! He wrangled with the Pharisee's, the Roman's, His own family & friends. The one thing He did do all the time was to declare the Kingdom of God had come. Oh, and that means that warfare has come, by the way. He promised us that we would have to fight, a lot! Matthew 10:34 say "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

But wait! Didn't He also say He'd give us peace? Yes, but let's read that promise again: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27) When we want peace & security in our lifetime, that can tend to be peace from a worldly perspective, not a heavenly one. Our job is to "fight the good fight of faith". There is an enemy who would like nothing better than for us to be lulled into complacency during our lifetime. That enemy doesn't want us to fight or to make sure that the Kingdom of God not only advances during our generation, but also during the following generations. Psalms 145 (one of my favorites) says it like this:

Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.

And also:

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
         And talk of Your power;
To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
         And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
         And Your dominion endures throughout all generations...
The Lord is righteous in all His ways
         And kind in all His deeds.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
         To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
         He will also hear their cry and will save them.

So today I ask the Lord to help me not be like King Hezekiah, but to fall on my face & cry out to the One who can not only save me, but save the world. And to that end, I pray with King David: