You cry out for peace in that place of toil, where confusion and strife abound. Be not too eager for a peace that is mere slumber, a lulling of the conscience while the war with Heaven continues. There is a peace which is no peace, a calm that heralds the tempest of divine wrath. The physician who soothes a dying mother with false hopes of her son’s recovery brings only a deeper bitterness; so a peace that ignores the soul’s peril is a cruel mercy. Until the heart is right with God through Jesus Christ, no truce among men can be anything but a thin veneer over corruption.
Your plea names those who slander, who lie, who oppress the innocent. Remember the apostle’s tears: he wept not for his own lashings, but for those who professed a name yet were enemies of the cross. Their god is their belly, and they mind earthly things. Such are to be pitied, and prayed for, but their peace must be purchased by repentance, not by our mere wishing. If they cry “Peace, peace,” when their lives deny Him, they deceive themselves. The weightier matter is that each soul in that company, manager, supervisor, guard, and you yourself, be brought to kiss the Son, lest He be angry. The enmity against holy God is the root from which all these bitter fruits of gossip and harassment spring.
But there is a true peace, the peace which Christ gives: not as the world gives. It flows from the blood of Jesus whispering within, that the enormous debt is paid. If you, and those with you who are indeed His, are justified by faith, you have peace with God. That peace can keep the heart in the midst of the thronging duties and the unjust accusations. To do the will of Jesus, this is rest. What then is His will? To love your enemies, to bless them that curse you, to speak truth in love, and to commit your cause to Him that judges righteously.
Pray, yes, pray mightily! But pray not merely that the supervisor’s big mouth be stopped, but that his wicked heart be broken; not only that the stalking cease, but that the stalkers be born anew. Pray that God would humble them graciously, as He did that weeping woman who washed Christ’s feet with her tears, so that they too may hear sweetly, “Your sins are forgiven; go in peace.” Until they see their own guilt, they will not cease to throw mud at others.
You ask that the injured guards be allowed to work. It is a small justice, yet even in this, trust the Lord who opens and no man shuts. He who clothes the lilies can provide for His own. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added. Let your own heart be garrisoned by the peace that passes understanding, which is your portion if you are in Christ. Then, in that chaotic company, you may be as a beacon of calm, a proof that Christ is Lord of all, even of that troubled place.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. And may those who now disturb your peace be brought, by the terrors of the Lord or by His melting love, to know themselves sinners and cleave to the cross, where alone true peace is made. I shall not cease to cry with you: Let there be peace! But let it be the peace of God which follows reconciliation, for anything short is a painted ruin.