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2006 September/October
The Strategy for International Peace
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
This is thought of as the most challenging of all roles on earth. I cannot think of anything I would rather be. My personal desire is to be a peacemaker.
I would like to stop the war in Iraq. I would like to stop the destructive “squabbling” between marriage partners that decimates their homes and families. I would like to stop the unhealthy political striving in churches that brings reproach upon the gospel. I would like to quiet agitated minds. I would like to eliminate hard feelings between neighbors.
I daydream about being a peacemaker!
The night before Franklin D. Roosevelt died, he was planning a trip to San Francisco to attend the organization of the United Nations. These were the last words he wrote:
“We seek peace-enduring peace . . . We must cultivate the science of human relations—the ability of all peoples to live together and work together, in the same world, at peace. . . . As we go forward, the greatest contribution that any generation of human beings can make in the world is the contribution of lasting peace—I ask you to keep up your faith.”
I think every president the United States of America has had would have liked, in his heart, to be a peacemaker. Why is it so elusive?
We seem to get a little taste of it annually during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, and then it fades quicker than our New Year’s resolutions. Bitterness and jealousy replace the carols. Greed and animosity crowd the goodwill. There is always a relapse.
Sometimes I wish it could be packaged and sold. Mankind craves it more than winning a financial lottery. I consistently hear the plaintiff wail from the lips of emotionally tortured people, “Oh, if I could only have a little bit of peace!”
Is it possible? How much does it cost? Must I withdraw? Can I love, can I achieve wealth, can I find a market for my talent and a place for my ability and enjoy peace at the same time? Who will show me? Who will teach me the strategy?
I think this torment of the human soul is more evident in the twenty-first century, and in our nation, than in any previous generation. Neither international nor inner conflict can be silenced with self-preservation, materialism, or superpower status.
There is a marvelous inner peace that comes to a man or to a woman who decides for God. The strife that tears at your conscience is finished. You cannot “halt between two opinions” week after week, and get much out of life. You are in a state of war.
To decide for God is the strategy/solution for peace in every dimension of life. His peace can become our peace. I challenge you to read about Christ’s life on earth. Not once was He in conflict with His Father. He did the will of God in every area of His life. The open/empty tomb is proof of His victory.
The fundamental war of all wars is being waged. It is fought on the battleground of the human mind. God wants you to enjoy His peace for eternity. Satan wants you to succumb to anxiety and fear on the way to destruction. Only you can decide who will win in your life.
Let the Spirit of God share His peace with you. Nations have been shattered and battered long enough. That is a real strategy you hear crying in your soul. It is a cry for peace.
RCS |
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