There have only been a few moments in my life when I have felt perfectly at peace. Moments of sweetness and beauty are so profound, they leave me feeling as though the veil between now and eternity is lifted for just a moment, long enough to breathe in before the exhale drops me back into the mundane.
We live in this in-between, in the “already but not yet” reality of Christ. We only receive a few precursors of perfect peace in our mortal bodies, when our desire for heaven is almost satisfied for a second. We crave heaven because it is what we were made for. We long for peace because our hearts are hard-wired for it.
In her novel Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson describes longing for peace like this:
To crave and to have are as like as a thing and its shadow. For when does a berry break upon the tongue as sweetly as when one longs to taste it, and when is the taste refracted into so many hues and savors of ripeness and earth, and when do our senses know any thing so utterly as when we lack it? And here again is a foreshadowing—the world will be made whole.
Today’s passages give me similar moments of peace and pause. Colossians 1 and 1 Corinthians 15 are both banner moments in Paul’s writings. I can hardly read them without the very best kind of tears filling my eyes. These passages provoke the deepest, unfulfilled places in my heart. They remind me that I was made for a perfect eternity.
Our eternal peace with God will be better than anything we can ever imagine. We will put on, as Paul writes so hopefully, our incorruptible bodies—new and perfect versions of ourselves (1Corinthians 15:53). We will also be fully reconciled with God.
Theologians categorize the work of Christ into different buckets, one of which is Christ as our reconciler. Sin alienates us from God and it makes us strangers to His mercy. There is an uncrossable chasm between us. But when we know Jesus and believe in Him, He makes our peace with God. He binds us up into a covenant relationship, into perfect peace.
Jesus doesn’t offer that peace to us as a pretty gift wrapped in a bow; rather, He spent His breath and bones to purchase it for us, “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). And so because of His blood, we claim reconciliation as God’s people. We will be reunited with Him forever. Death is no longer an uncrossable chasm. Death has lost its sting, having been swallowed up in Christ’s victory on the cross (1Corinthians 15:54–55).
As those who have been raised with Christ, let us seek eternal things, not earthly things. One day He will appear again, and we will join Him in glory. But as we wait, let us rest in the peace of Christ today. Lord, hasten the day of your return.
@Kelli Carlson: life is hard and it seems that you’re having your plate so full. I am praying for your thyroid issues to be clear, weight gain/depression/fatigue to be removed. May joy, hope, peace, strength/energy will come to flood over you. It will be okay. God is able to restore your weary soul (Jeremiah 31:25) with His goodness, fresh mercies daily, and grant you your heart’s desires. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31). I commend you for being the first in your family being chosen and called by God, and you obeyed to follow Him. It is by choice, and I commend you, for no one pointed you to the way you should go, but you found it. Now that you are here, you are the salt and the light to shine in your family and your in-law family. Following Jesus will bring us a lot of mental burden, many competing voices telling us to give up (for the Word’s sake- we are just targets by association), persecution/hurtful comments from families. BUT hey Kelli, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Your Shepard leads you with His purpose and walks beside you with compassion (Psalm 23:1-4). May you find rest and new strength in this weary season, and you will soon soar up like a strong eagle. I firmly believe so! God bless you sister.
@Rhonda J.: I lift up Braydon and his little sister, and your son’s family in prayers today. May God protect the little children from hurtful relationships with parents (my heart always aches about this particular subject). And may God open the parents’ eyes, warn them /educate them/correct them through whatever channels God can get through to them, for them to come to a deeper understanding and take actions for new changes, that they may learn to cherish and nurture their children like little treasures with much love, grace and diligence. I pray for Braydon’s relationship with his parents to be improved by the Lord Himself. May Braydon’s parents be transformed to be a safe place for Braydon, the way God designed them to be. May any hurt, pain, struggles, and family issues between Braydon and his parents be completely removed, and the family will be blessed with love, peace and laughter. Much blessings to you Rhonda. Love the amazing glimpse of your day about manatees /dolphin jump that you shared!
Thank you Kelli Carlson, your words encouraged me.
Today’s He Reads Truth is so good! I encourage y’all to read it!
https://hereadstruth.com/2022/06/02/jesus-secures-our-peace-with-god-2/
Today’s He Reads Truth is so good! I encourage y’all to read it!
Good Morning She’s. I heard somewhere recently the “imperative” in a wacky & distorted world of brokenness & sadness to think of at least six beautiful things before you begin the day. Why six or why morning? It doesn’t matter. It’s all about the doing. Claiming peace & proximity to our BIG God in the smallest detail. Mine this morning: peonies in bloom; a brand of carmelita coffee; book I just finished; text last night from dear friend; planned trip to great (independent, not a chain) book shop; the decision to paint my own toenails (purple, yea!) tonight (instead of going to a salon). How about you? Let’s begin to find peace in the daily pleasures He provides so openly. Isn’t that heaven, available now, within reach, by the glory & goodness of God? Like the Marilynne Robinson excerpt Ms. Rainer quotes; May we see & taste & feel the future promise by today’s praise & thanksgiving. While we wait to celebrate the ultimate coming.
Experiencing peace in the here and now is something that I struggle mightily with. I wanted to cry when I read the words “We will be reconciled with God’ Yes. Yes. That is what I long for. The removal of a wall I can’t seem to scale on this side of eternity. Melanie calls it a chasm that cannot be crossed. To experience deep abiding peace in God’s presence now, today, is my most heartfelt desire. Though I’m not there yet…Today’s reading is a step forward.
Dear Kelli- thank you so much for speaking exactly how I often feel!! I so often want to just speak the name of Jesus, and the glory and excitement and joy I feel in the amazing gift that was given to us. And HOW can others NOT understand and talk about it, like they would exciting wordly things!? You described it perfectly, and that is how I’m feeling when with unbelieving family that will be with us next week. All we can do is pray and let the Lord lead us (all in His timing!) Prayers for you!!
♥️