I think we do people a disservice when we speak as though trusting God should make grief or anxiety disappear. A believer can trust Christ and still feel the strain of a family problem, a loss, or uncertainty about the future. Scripture promises peace, but we need to understand what God has promised before we tell someone how he ought to feel.
Peace with God describes the reconciliation we receive through Jesus Christ. We were alienated from God because of sin, and through Christ we are forgiven and brought into a right relationship with Him. The peace of God concerns the peace He gives us within that relationship, guarding our thoughts and shaping how we live. A Christian who feels anxious has not lost his salvation because of that anxiety. Someone who feels at ease may still be alienated from God.
Peace Begins With Jesus
There is nothing wrong with welcoming relief when it comes. A quiet afternoon, good news about someone we love, or enough money to pay an overdue bill can ease a real burden. We can thank God for those things without assuming that His peace depends on our ability to keep life comfortable. Circumstances can change again before the day is over.
Nor should we use peace, joy, and happiness as though they always mean the same thing. Happiness usually describes how we respond to pleasant circumstances. Biblical joy responds to God’s goodness and saving faithfulness, so it can be present even beneath sorrow. Peace may concern reconciliation after hostility, harmony between people, or the inward steadiness God gives. Paul names joy and peace separately when he describes the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Jesus promised His disciples peace on the evening before His arrest. Judas had left to betray Him, Peter had been warned that he would deny Him, and the disciples were distressed about His departure. In John 14, Jesus directed them to the Father and to Himself and promised the Helper. He then told them:
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Jesus did not promise peace because the danger was about to pass. The disciples would be frightened and scattered, and events would unfold very differently from what they wanted. His promise rested on who He is, the Father’s care, and the victory over death He would accomplish. An agreement between people may unravel when someone refuses to keep it; Christ’s ability to keep His word does not depend on everyone else cooperating.
He said, “My peace I give to you.” The disciples needed something their determination could not supply, and Jesus promised them the Helper rather than leaving them to manage on their own. We depend on His Word and the same Holy Spirit. If trouble unsettles me again, I can return to what He has said and ask for His help. Needing to do that repeatedly in a hard day is no reason to conclude that Christ has withdrawn His promise.
Centuries earlier, Isaiah had connected peace with this coming Messiah. Isaiah 8 and 9 describe anguish under the threat of invasion, with the shadow of death over the land. God promised light through a Child who would be born and a Son who would be given:
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The Hebrew word translated peace here is shalom, which has a broader range than a quiet feeling. Depending on its setting, it may refer to an end to hostility, someone’s welfare, or soundness and well-being. A greeting asking about someone’s shalom concerns his welfare; a national or covenant passage may concern security and right order. We need to let the sentence determine the meaning instead of inserting every possible meaning wherever the word appears.
Here the title Prince of Peace belongs to a King who will govern righteously. Isaiah goes on to say that the increase of His government and peace on David’s throne will never end. He can remove oppression and establish justice, bearing the full responsibility of His rule. A world in which people are being oppressed needs more than advice about remaining calm; it needs the righteous government this King will establish.
Jesus is fully God and fully man, and both are necessary to understand why we can depend on Him for peace. A merely human teacher could give helpful counsel without being able to reconcile sinners to God. Someone who only appeared to be human could not stand in our place as the true Man. The promised King is also the perfect Savior, able to accomplish the reconciliation we could never secure for ourselves.
We do need to be careful, though, about accepting a promise of peace that leaves sin unaddressed. In Jeremiah 6, Judah continued in rebellion while its prophets and priests assured people that all was well. Judgment was approaching, but those responsible for warning the people minimized their condition:
They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, "Peace, peace!" When there is no peace.
Jeremiah was rebuking leaders who concealed the seriousness of Judah’s sin. He was not rebuking wounded people for wanting comfort. If I have been dishonest with someone, keeping the conversation pleasant will not put things right. I need to admit what I did and address the harm, even if that conversation is uncomfortable. Christ does not restore us by agreeing to leave our wrongdoing alone. We can receive His correction because He is the Savior who forgives and restores those who come to Him.
Peace With God Through Christ
Our most fundamental need concerns the relationship sin has broken. I could have a calm disposition and still be alienated from God, or sit in a quiet house with guilt that no change of surroundings can remove. Before addressing how we feel, we need to understand how a sinner can be put right with the holy God.
Paul establishes human guilt in the opening chapters of Romans and explains that justification comes through faith apart from works. Justification means that God declares the believer righteous because of Christ. Abraham had no grounds to boast about earning that standing, and neither do we. Paul then explains the result:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Notice that Paul says we have peace with God. The believer has been justified and reconciled through Christ, whether or not he feels settled at that moment. God has dealt with the righteous case against his sin instead of ignoring it. A Christian may need the Father’s correction and may struggle with distress, but he no longer stands condemned as God’s enemy. His acceptance rests on Christ, rather than on how successfully he has calmed himself.
Colossians tells us how that reconciliation was secured:
and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
Jesus bore the punishment for our sins in His innocent body. Wicked people inflicted His suffering, and He willingly shed His blood and died for us. His saving work through His blood and death was complete before His bodily resurrection; after His burial, He rose from the grave. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Our peace with God rests on what Christ actually endured and accomplished, not on our efforts to become deserving of forgiveness.
Someone who has not trusted Christ needs this reconciliation, even if the rest of his life seems to be going well. The person who repents and believes is forgiven and justified, with no need to earn acceptance through religious effort. If we try to discuss peace while leaving out the cross, we have neglected the reason a guilty person can come to God at all. The fuller study of salvation examines what Christ has done and how we receive His gift.
Peace That Guards and Rules
Having been reconciled to God, we can bring Him the burdens that trouble us day by day. Paul wrote Philippians while imprisoned, so his teaching did not come from an easy life. The church also had difficulties within its own fellowship. In chapter 4, he urged Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord before calling believers to rejoice in Him and remember His nearness. He then gave these instructions:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Paul tells us to bring our requests to God and promises that His peace will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. A concern can occupy our thoughts until we have rehearsed the worst possible outcome so often that it begins to seem inevitable. We may have no way to find out what will happen, much less prevent it. We can tell Him what is troubling us and ask for His help before we know how things are going to turn out.
Supplication means asking God for the help we need. If I am out of work and worried about providing for my family, I can ask Him to help me find employment and use what I have wisely. I do not have to conceal the concern behind religious language. Thanksgiving belongs in that prayer because I have reason to remember His faithfulness, even though I am not required to call the present trouble good. Neither the wording of my request nor my ability to stop worrying earns His care.
Paul continues in verses 8 and 9 by directing our thoughts toward what is true, pure, and worthy of praise. Praying about a problem while deliberately feeding ourselves speculation about everything that might go wrong works against that instruction. We need to consider what is actually true, including what God has told us about Himself. This is something to practice as we bring our requests to Him, rather than a requirement to get our thoughts perfectly in order before we are allowed to pray.
We should obey these instructions without turning them into a promise of immediate emotional relief. When the concern returns, we can bring it to God again. Continued anxiety is not proof that He has rejected us. The study on prayer considers this dependence on Him more fully.
Colossians 3 takes us from anxious thoughts into our conduct toward other believers. Paul calls Christ’s people to put away the practices of their old life and put on mercy, humility, patience, forgiveness, and love. Within those instructions he says:
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
The reference to one body means this peace concerns our life together as a church. If I have been nursing a grievance against another believer and repeating his faults to anyone who will listen, I cannot claim to cherish Christ’s peace while deliberately stirring up resentment. Paul has just told us to forgive as Christ forgave us. Irritation may help explain why I want to retaliate, but it does not give me permission to disregard that command.
God’s peace should govern how we respond, rather than leaving fear or resentment to make our decisions. That does not mean a feeling of calm proves that any choice is right. Paul is describing people whose conduct is being brought under Christ’s authority, with forgiveness and love shaping how they treat one another.
Peace While Trouble Remains
The peace Christ gives does not remove the hardship He told His followers to expect. John 16 takes us back to the same evening before the cross described in John 14. Jesus warned the disciples that they would scatter and leave Him alone, although the Father remained with Him. He spoke so that they could have peace in Him even while facing trouble in the world:
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
The disciples would suffer, but their suffering would not determine the final outcome. Christ would rise bodily from the dead, and the world that rejected Him would not be able to undo His victory. We depend on that same Lord while facing difficulties that may remain painful and unresolved. Grief can still hurt deeply without making His promise false.
Isaiah 26 also connects peace with trust in the LORD. In a song about salvation and righteous rule, Judah is pictured singing of a strong city whose defenses come from God. The promise rests on His strength:
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
A mind stayed on the LORD is fixed on Him because it trusts Him. Isaiah places our confidence in God’s strength, rather than our ability to keep every distressing thought out of our heads. Scripture tells the truth about human sin and suffering while also telling us who He is and what He has promised. When fear draws our attention away, those truths give us a reason to turn back to Him.
Peace Produced by the Spirit and Lived With Others
As we learn to trust God, we depend on the Holy Spirit who produces peace as His fruit. Natural composure is not reliable evidence of that work. Someone may appear untroubled because he is avoiding a problem or feels indifferent toward the people it affects. A person with a more intense temperament can still learn to trust Christ and respond with patience. We should look at whether we are obeying Him, rather than assume that the quietest person is necessarily the most mature.
The Holy Spirit is a divine Person who indwells believers and directs us toward the Son. Through Scripture He convicts us and comforts us, forming holy character as we walk by the Spirit instead of feeding the flesh. His comfort does not involve helping us feel at ease with rebellion. If I am defending sin, I need to repent instead of finding a way to feel calmer about it. The study on the Person of the Holy Spirit examines His ministry further.
That work should be evident in our dealings with people outside the church as well. Romans 12 joins peaceful living to sincere love, patience in trouble, prayer, blessing persecutors, and refusing revenge. Paul asks us to obey God without making us responsible for controlling someone else’s response:
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
We need to take both qualifications seriously: if it is possible and as much as depends on you. Another person may refuse the truth or continue doing harm. A believer may need to seek protection or set a firm boundary, and wrongdoing may need to be reported. My willingness to obey God cannot make another person repent or make reconciliation mutual. Allegiance to Christ can also bring division, as Jesus warned.
Those limits do not excuse enjoying a quarrel or repaying evil. I can seek protection without plotting revenge, and I can speak frankly about wrongdoing without treating another person with contempt. Knowing that God has accepted me through Christ also means I do not have to defend my worth in every conversation. I can acknowledge my own fault, ask forgiveness, and make the correction that is needed.
Within the church, that willingness to admit our own wrong is part of keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, as Ephesians calls us to do. Paul asks us to walk with humility and patience, not to treat doctrine as unimportant or call unresolved evil reconciliation. We pursue peace under Christ’s authority, taking responsibility for our own conduct and leaving final judgment with the God who knows the whole situation.
My Final Thoughts
I can have peace with God because Jesus shed His blood and gave His life to reconcile sinners to God. If I have trusted Christ, I can bring my troubled thoughts to the Father without first pretending that I am fine. His peace should also change the way I respond to correction and the way I treat other people. That includes admitting my own wrongdoing, refusing revenge, and praying when a burden keeps returning.
The Prince of Peace has risen and overcome the world. Trouble may remain beyond my control, but it cannot make Him less trustworthy. I want to depend on what He has said while dealing honestly with the circumstances in front of me.