The cry of your heart for the peace of God amidst this debilitating anxiety does not go unheard. He is not a God of war and turmoil, but the God of peace. He created peace originally, He restores it, and He will perfect it at last. But mark this carefully: there is a false peace, a deadly, stupefying thing, which leaves the conscience asleep while the soul is in danger. The peace you need is not that of the devil, but the peace that comes from the very hand of the thrice-holy God, a peace founded on eternal truth and sealed by atoning blood.
You cannot know the peace of God until you know peace with God. A man conscious of guilt will find every door of his heart creaking on its hinges with dread until he becomes equally conscious of being forgiven. The blood of Jesus whispers peace within, perfect peace, even in this dark world of sin. Look to the cross, for Christ Himself is our peace. He has made peace by the blood of the everlasting covenant, and by His sacrifice a covenant of peace is now established between you and your God. There take your full of peace. God delights in reconciling sinners to Himself, and in doing so He implants peace deep in the soul.
When the heart is thus set right with God, there follows a consequent peace in the little kingdom within. This is the peace that passes all understanding, a deep tranquility of the soul resting on God. It is not the peace of a quiet sea because there are no storms, but the unruffled calm of the depths where Christ dwells. It keeps the heart and mind and wards off all sorts of evils. That peace becomes a jewel worn in the breast, the choice privilege of the believer. Yet this peace is often disturbed in our enjoyment of it, not in its reality, by the howlings of the dog of hell and by our own anxious, doubtful minds. To be of a doubtful mind is to invite a tempest within; the chief concern of a man is to see that his own soul is right in the sight of God.
You may ask how this peace is to be obtained in the midst of thronging duties and pressing fears. First, rest in God's thoughts toward you. He has thoughts of peace, to give you an expected end. He designs your highest good, and in His refining work, His thoughts are peaceable. When we love God's law, we see God at the beginning, middle, and end of everything; we reach the peace of resignation, acquiescing in His will. It is disgraceful for a child of God to quarrel with Him. Walk humbly with your God; peace is a jewel He places on your finger, but pride will cause Him to take it off. Live near the cross, and your peace shall be continual. Great peace have they that love His law, for in keeping His precepts and trusting His promises they find a pacified conscience and a sure foundation.
The God of peace will refine and sanctify you, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, and then peace shall flow like a river. The Spirit of God speaks peace to troubled consciences, and Jesus left this as His own legacy: not the world's peace, but His own profound, God-like peace. This peace is yours by right of the covenant if you are His. May that threefold peace, peace with God, peace within your own spirit, and peace with the will of God, be with you always, even by all means, from the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.