I had a few moments with my wonderful little girls today. Hope is a whirlwind; she plays at fifty miles an hour, leaving behind her a wake of crayons, plastic toys, and cardboard books (the paper ones are not durable enough for her yet!). Grace adds to the ruckus with her own sounds and actions of pre-toddler chaos.When I finally sat down after putting them both in their respective nap areas, I sat down on the couch and reached for Job (coincidence, surely).

Finally, I thought, peace.

But what I really meant was, finally – quiet. And I caught myself as I thought it, too. Wait! Quietness is not peace… peace is so much more than quiet. What a wondrous thought… I truly have peace, all day long! Peace when Hope is bounding on the sofa; peace when Grace wails; peace when I’m tired, peace when I’m busy. Peace with every breath I take.

The concept of peace is so wonderful, I can’t really get my arms around it.

In my head, I know that it was the very pinnacle of goodness in the Old Testament. It’s our translation of the Hebrew word “shalom,” which carries the flavor of rightness, of wellness, of a deep abiding sense of properness.

That kind of peace has an object: God. True peace is peace with God.

What does this peace have to do with grace?

Well… it is by grace that I have that peace today, and every day. Even if I don’t feel it, even if I sinned against God today, even if I overslept my quiet time, even if I start to get weary of service and daily living… I know deep in my soul I have peace, rightness, goodness, wellness, with my God.

How do I know that? Because I believe the Bible. I believe what my Savior has done for me.

Jesus proclaimed to those who believe in Him that He was leaving us peace: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27).

This peace is a direct result of reconciliation. Reconciliation is the putting back together of what was broken apart, what was at war, at enmity. That was me and God, due to my sin. But look what Jesus did, through the cross: it was God’s pleasure “through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” (Colossians 1:20)

So I have peace. Peace forever. Because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
Because of grace.

John Bunyon writes in his biography, Grace Abounding, that the peace-producing grace of Colossians 1:20 is what broke through his efforts at religion to actually touch his heart. It was this peace, by Christ’s work alone, which broke him of thinking of his life as keeping religious rules and regulations.

The grace of the atonement is so important that C.H. Spurgeon said, “I believe that if I should preach to you the atonement of our Lord Jesus, and nothing else, twice every Sabbath day, my ministry would not be unprofitable. Perhaps it might be more profitable than it is.”

The atonement is a fantastically deep topic for another day. Today I just remain reveling in peace. Peace through the grace of Christ, which has brought that peace to me forever.

Because this peace is the result of His atonement, and rests solely on His finished work in His life and sacrifice for me, I can’t lose it. This true peace doesn’t depend on me. Rather, it motivates me to lay down my life for Him.

In the quiet of children’s naps, I exult in it.
In the rush of today’s concerns, I lean on it.

“And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:11).

Grace and peace to you!