“Peace, Peace.” When There is No Peace

“They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.” In Israel or anywhere else.

Jeremiah rebukes the false prophets who soothed the Israelite’s worry and calmed their fears of war by assuring them, no war would come.  When it absolutely was coming.

This is our collective state. We see the sin around us and our spirits are stirred to discern and discard the wicked ways of the world. We see the brutality and carnality and long for the Lord to intervene and when on the brink of repentance, here come the soothsayers. “There, there pet. Everything is fine. No need to turn from anything. Everything is under control. Everything is fine. Everything is permitted.”

Whether global leaders or global influencers, we allow ourselves to be convinced. With mortal wounds in the fabrics of our countries, in the threads of our marriages and families, in the integrity of our churches, we accept the wine to dull the pain while the infection remains and festers.  Until in one day, the bandage is removed and the severity realized. There is no peace and there never was. There is no healing and there never was.

Friend, as long as we are trusting governments to provide peace, we will be disappointed. As long as we trust circumstances to provide peace, we will be disappointed. As long as we trust the enemy to leave us alone or honor agreements, we will be disappointed. And in grave danger.

God alone is our peace. When leaders fail, when systems fail, when guards are down and guns are drawn—the Lord alone is our peace. He sees. He knows. He can be trusted. He sees His children, He sees His Chosen People, Israel. He is faithful.

He sees the enemies of the righteous. He sees those who have gathered and garnered power to oppress and control. He sees those who negotiate and trade on the safety and security, on the peace of others.

He sees. He can be trusted and He will not fail.

The world may have a wicked double-standard in how it identifies evil. The very same who tend towards the fragility of others and need for careful words, now in the streets celebrating the shedding of innocent blood.

I assure you God does not lack clarity or courage. God is not muddy at all on seeing and identifying evil. He does not equivocate or find Himself needing to walk back His judgments or soften His tone.

He is just. He is in control. His will cannot be thwarted or delayed. He is never deceived by “deals” or man. Everything may fail in offering security or healing. He will not. He is peace when there is no peace.

On one of his travels across Europe, the great French leader, Napoleon Bonaparte led his troops through a small Jewish town. He passed by a synagogue where everyone was sitting on the floor crying and reading little books by the light of small candles. Napoleon asked his aide, “What is this?” He was told that the Jewish people are mourning the destruction of the Temple (twice). “How long ago was that?” he inquired, “Two thousand years” was the answer.

 Napoleon, astonished, was then quoted saying: “A nation that cries and fasts for over 2,000 years for their land and the Temple will surely be rewarded with both land and the Temple.”