I was walking out of the movie theater when a familiar voice spoke to me, “Shalom, Shalom, friend.” I turned to see the elderly gentleman with kind eyes smiling at me. He was an older saint of God who had impacted my life over the years. He loaned me the money to buy my first car, and later he loaned my husband and me money to buy our first home. It had been many years since I had seen him, and my heart danced as I beheld the peace of God flowing through him. His smile was genuine, and his face had a glow about it. We exchanged a warm embrace, and then he and his wife drifted with the crowd. I left with that same peace of God flowing through me. He reminded me that we can have peace that passes all understanding on this side of Glory. Those were the only words he spoke to me that day. I am reminded of them often when I am navigating through the storms of life. It was like a whisper from God.
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
Shalom, Shalom, means “perfect peace” in the Hebrew language. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can experience peace flowing from the Throne of God. In the book of Isaiah, we are told about the Prince of Peace, the Son of God. Through our relationship with Him, peace flows like living water through us. His peace is a steady calm that keeps moving, keeps flowing, even in the storms of life. The peace of God is a bridge over troubled waters.
A few months after my encounter with the elderly saint of God, he went quietly to Heaven and entered the land of rest. Oh, how my soul rejoiced for where he was and what he was seeing and experiencing. His faith had become sight, and he was beholding the face of God in a land beyond the river that they call the sweet forever.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3
This old hymn sums up the peace of God so beautifully. The author wrote it out of a place of deep grief and sorrow. His four daughters were killed when their ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean after colliding with a sea vessel. As this grieving father was traveling to England to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed by the spot where his daughters had died.
When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And has shed his own blood for my soul.
My sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul;
O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul.(“It is Well With My Soul” Text: Horatio G. Spafford 1876, Music: Philip P. Bliss)
The first sentence in that hymn describes that perfect peace during the most devastating time of the writer’s life. Peace like a river. I am so thankful that I, too, have that peace during the trials and tribulations we, as God’s children, must suffer. Peace like a river…it keeps moving, keeps flowing, from the Throne of God. It carries us when life knocks the breath out of us. It is a quiet calm that puts us in harmony with God.
“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
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
How sweet it is to be loved by the Prince of Peace.
Shalom, Shalom, my friends.
Dana Hill
Lean into Jesus Ministries
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