And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” - Genesis 41:16
Life is filled with uncertainty; every new day brings new challenges, new questions, and with that uncertainty. With all the questions and concerns that surround us today, I ask you, has this world ever been able to give you an answer of peace?
Many of us this very instant have the world’s knowledge at our fingertips. Although Google gets over three billion queries a day; that doesn’t stop it from processing three billion more the next day. A quest for answers is not the same as a quest for peace. The prophet Haggi said: “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” There are plenty of questions out there, and plenty more answers, but nothing from the world can offer an answer of peace. We are all born into this world with enmity between us and God. There is always warfare going on internally, while we are in the flesh. Many will tell you that this warfare will continue until you die, they will tell you that there is no peace within. This is a lie; the scripture says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3) When the Word talks about being in the flesh, it is saying that your spiritual man is in the flesh; this is to say “in sin” or “in carnality”; basically, you are bent to sin and thereby separated from God. There are those who spend their whole lives in this state of sinfulness trying to numb their feeling of separation from God. Searching for answers to a problem the devil doesn’t want them to identify. The search for peace is lost in the pursuit of pleasure, money, power, and a laundry list of things in this world. Like a thirsty man drinking salty water, the world and its sinfulness will only generate more thirst. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:21) The search for peace in worldly things will bring only greater confusion. This is because only God can give an answer of peace. You cannot find reconciliation and redemption anywhere, but in God and through Christ. No matter how popular the book, how gratifying the lust, how intense the rush; no matter what it is, or where it is coming from; if not from God, then there will be no answer of peace. The unrest rests in our separation from God; so, we must be reconciled to God, only then will we find true peace. Jesus told us that “my peace I give unto, and not as the world giveth.” (John 14:27) He was speaking of a day when the Comforter would come and abide in the heart of the converted. This Holy Ghost would give us an abiding peace.
Imagine if you will, a harsh, rugged, snow covered mountain side, barren, dark, and cold. On it sits a small log cabin, with two square windows on the front side and a big, heavy, wooden front door: shut and locked. Inside the cabin through the front windows, you can see a man nestled into a comfy chair, with a warm blanket draped over him. He is seated close to a roaring fire, with a warm drink in his hand, gazing introspectively at the fire, and glad for shelter from the cold blizzard outside………. This is the peace of God to the sanctified soul. It is a glorious resting place, in the fellowship of Jesus Christ. Outside the world swirls and howls, no life can be found, no comfort, no peace. However, inside the fellowship of Jesus Christ, the glorious resting place of his Spirit we find peace, contentment, and comfort. This place cannot be found through the answers of man, but only through God and his Son Jesus Christ.
