The cry of your heart is for a miracle, a sudden, divine intervention to hush the clamour of creditors and lift the crushing weight of debt. You seek a loan to pay all, that the harassing calls might cease and your family’s peace be restored. This is a sore trial, and I do not diminish it. Yet I would have you consider a deeper miracle, a peace which no bank settlement can confer. You pray for a resolution to your earthly debts, but have you known the discharge of that enormous debt of sin which every soul owes to the law of God? When I learned that my own vast iniquity had been fully discharged by the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore it upon the tree for all believers, then was my heart at peace. That is the wellspring of all lasting quietness.
The peace you need is not first the silencing of collectors, but the calm of a soul stayed upon its God. “You will keep him in perfect peace, peace, peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You.” True peace is not a mere absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ within the storm. The world cries “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace, promising relief by fretting and scheming; but the Lord Jesus speaks, “Your sins are forgiven you; go in peace,” and with that word He imparts a peace which the world can neither give nor take away. Your earthly debts may remain for a season, yet you may possess a peace gleaming with heavenly light even in this midnight of care. The blood of Jesus whispers peace within, and when that is heard, the loudest threats of men are but the barking of dogs at the edge of the shore.
Do you not see in this testing hour a call to trust the Great Miracle Worker? The power of Christ to deliver does not lie in the one saved, it lies wholly in Jesus Himself. He has but to speak, as He did to the unclean spirit, “Hold your peace, and come out of him,” and the enemy must flee. His word has shaken the kingdom of darkness and loosed the bonds of the oppressed before, and He can loose yours too. But mark this: the miracle He often works first is a miracle of grace within the heart. Manasseh was a loathsome monster of guilt, yet God made him a miracle of mercy. So too your present bitterness may be the very medicine to heal your soul. “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness,” said Hezekiah; his double bitterness worked his peace and health. Those harassing calls, that gnawing anxiety, what if they are sent to drive you from a false peace to the true, from trusting in a human loan to resting upon the promise of Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Who Will Provide?
Consider the miracle of the loaves in your own life’s story. Has Christ not met you in emergencies before? Is He not grand in emergencies? None of the multitude refused the Lord’s provision that day; will you refuse to trust Him now? You desire to repay everyone, that is right and honourable. But do not imagine that a personal loan will bring you peace if your heart is not anchored in your God. When you are rich and find that riches bring cares, bring those cares to Him. When you are poor, do the same. Have faith, too, about those simple family matters that cause you so much irritation. You have been praying, now commit your cause wholly to God and have faith that He will grant your request, not necessarily as you dictate, but as He knows best. The Lord has endless, boundless peace within Himself, and when you have long enjoyed peace with Him, you may go to Him again and say, “Lord, renew my peace. I am troubled, but You are unmoved, bless me with Your peace.”
Should the Lord see fit to grant you a way of discharge, shout hallelujah! But if the trial continues, let the peace of God which passes all understanding mount guard over your heart and mind. Lay hold upon those precious names: Jehovah-Shalom, the Peace-Giving God; Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Will Provide; Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord Who Is There Where His People Are. Then, though the banks call and the threats multiply, you shall find rest in doing the will of Jesus. This is peace: perfect peace, even by thronging duties pressed. And soon, how soon we cannot tell, earth’s struggles shall cease, and Jesus will call us to heaven’s perfect peace. Until then, let the blood of Jesus whisper its continual calm within your breast.