S147P5 – Lost to disobedience: peace

Ezk. 7:22-26

I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured place.  Robbers shall enter and profane it.  Forge a chain!  For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence.  I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses.  I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned.  When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none.  Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor.  They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders.

What often happens is that we are distracted by the illusion of the greener grass on the other lawn.  For those raised in the Church, they will be challenged by this early on.  I would not say that I was raised in the Church, but I was raised in a fundamentalist environment with strict rules.  It was often the case that I was restricted from activities that seemed regular and normal to everyone else.  Yet, for us those things were sinful.  Whether the forbidden fruit just beyond my reach was actually bad for me was not my concern.  I simply wanted to have and enjoy what everyone else had and enjoyed, to not miss out.  After all, it looked like they were living just fine that way. 

We see other people live in disobedience and apparent bliss, and it might make us wonder why we continue to live in sacrifice and discipline.  This walk of ours certainly comes with persecution and trials and challenges, but there are so many people living for themselves and for the world who appear to have it made.  They appear to be living peaceful and enjoyable lives.  Some even have great fortunes and clout.  The peace they seem to enjoy, however, is just an illusion.  That counterfeit security will show itself for what it is and crumble one day.  As true peace rests only with the Lord, we cannot have it without him.  It is a wonder we would be surprised at all when our straying from him brings conflict, disorder and disaster.

Peace is a privilege.  This is not a peaceful world, and we do not deserve that.  Chaos is what we merit as a result of our fallen nature, and that is where we will reside when we remain subscribing to that nature.  Separation from God means separation from true peace.  There are things we cannot have simply because we have not chosen him.  It is not always a matter of actively imposed punishment for disobedience.  The fruit of peace cannot be produced from a tree rooted in wickedness and sin.  It would be an offense to peace for that to be the case.  Father, continue to help us remain obedient to You that we would live lives of abundant true peace.