In the New Testament, from the Book of Acts onward, the authors writing in the Spirit of God speak of God’s peace nearly 20 times.

Peace.

Today, we are seeing a struggle not seen on this level except for two other times in our country’s history. The first, the Revolutionary War, which sought to protect the rights of citizens under oppression. The second divided our country and– once again– we fought over the right of men to be free.

The struggle in our society today is a fight over ideas–and instead of polite discourse that allows us to discuss and argue with evidence-based substance, these arguments have devolved into him against her, race against race, and anarchy against order.

Peace.

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace…”— 1 Corinthians 14:33

And we see this today: confusion instead of peace. Anger and frustration lead the way instead of God’s peace and grace toward others. Instead of worshipping at the feet of God, many in our society worship at the feet of “rights.”

As I listened to a legendary missionary leader visiting our church today, his words focused my attention on what the world needs. He didn’t speak of the strife in our society, the anger or the division. He spoke of missions and the nearly 8 billion people in the world today who need to hear the Gospel.

With the Gospel comes peace.

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”– Philippians 4:7

Pray for peace. Pray for the millions who have never heard the Good News. Pray for our nation and our leaders that they seek wisdom.