“And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.”–Luke 24:36–37
D. L. Moody said that just before He died, Christ made a will. To His disciples (and to us) Jesus left His peace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Then Moody said, “They say that a man cannot make a will now that lawyers cannot break. I will challenge them to break Christ’s will. Let them try it. No judge or jury can set that aside. Christ rose to execute His own will. He left His peace and His joy for every true believer, and no power on earth can take it from him who trusts.”
Though Jesus had promised lasting peace to His disciples four days earlier, when He appeared to them they were in terror. They did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead as He had said would happen, as the angels had told the women at the tomb, and as the two disciples who had just returned from Emmaus had said. And here is the lesson: when we do not believe what God has said, we forfeit His peace.
It is only through faith that we can maintain the peace of God in the face of the storms and tests of life. It is not from the outside that peace is stolen, but from the inside that it is given away. The promises of God are backed by His faithfulness and complete power—they never fail. So when we are facing trials and burdens, we will have God’s peace instead of terror as long as we do not give it away in unbelief.
“Nothing in the world can take the peace of Jesus away from us unless we give it up ourselves.”– Dr. Paul Chappell
