What you ask for, healing and protection and deliverance from evil, is found most fully in that peace which Christ alone gives, a peace not like the world’s, a peace that is the mother of all good things. For the peace of God is steadfast; it does not come from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of the Healer within the soul. You pray for your family to be surrounded by peace, and this is good, for where peace is, there everything else follows. But let the peace of God rule in your hearts, as an umpire. When fears rise up, or when the enemy whispers turmoil, set not anxiety nor anger to hold the prize, but let Christ’s peace decide. How did God make peace with you? Of His own will, without your deserving it. So let that same reconciling power calm every inward storm. Healing comes when the diseased part is cut off by the sword of the Spirit, and the soul is made whole through repentance and trust.
But remember, the peace you seek is not merely an outward quietness, for robbers may have concord, and the world’s peace often ends in ruin. No, follow peace with all men, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Let your household be a place where forgiveness reigns, where no bitter word rends the Body of Christ, for when you war against your brother, you war against Christ’s own members. Deliverance from evil comes as you cling to the Deliverer, who by the Dove’s appearing brought not an olive branch merely, but adoption for all the world. The Angels of your little ones behold the Father’s face; be sober, then, as in the presence of tutors, and let your prayer be lived out in gentleness and purity. The Physician has come; let Him amputate sin, and then the peace which passes understanding will garrison your heart and your home. Trust not in human strength, but in the Peace of God, which has already overcome the world.