Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NLT)
In my former life as a business manager there were a lot of stresses in life. Customers needed to be met with, most of who wanted to gripe about something. Then there was the budget, which always needed to be both developed and spent perfectly. In addition, there were thousands of pages of policies that had to be correctly followed. And, finally, there was the City Council who wanted updates on everything and then wanted to make more policies that must be followed. Oh, and I had a bunch of employees that needed to be validated, disciplined, and, well, managed. Every day brought a new type of stress.
Of course, outside of work, we all have additional stresses: family, friends, significant other, money, time, homework, chores, kids, and a million other things. Sometimes it feels like the stress is overwhelming – we wonder if we’ll make it through the day.
That’s why our verse of the day seems very weird to me. Paul stated, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.” How can we have peace in every situation when there is so much stress in life? The simple answer, realize life can’t be controlled.
Stress results from situations where we try to exert control. Whether it’s family, homework, friends, work, or anything else, we get stressed when we try to control the outcome of something. We get uber-stressed when that control is failing.
So, how do we get less stress? Give up control. As Paul says, Jesus is the “Lord of Peace.” That word Lord comes up a lot in Scripture. It means that Jesus rules – He is in control. So, if Jesus is the commander of peace, then it would make sense that He should be in control of situations where peace is needed. Essentially, since every aspect of life can be stressful, it means we must surrender control of every aspect of life to Jesus. When we do, then the Lord of Peace can give us assurance that He will see us through the trials of life. Peace is the result.
So, today, and every day, invite Jesus to be the Lord of your life. Let His peace take over every part of your existence. Only then will you fully experience the Lord of Peace.
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