Peace with God

Trouble Sleeping

Peace with God

In the Old Testament – Shalom

In the New Testament – Eirene

As with shalōm, eirēnē could be used as a greeting or farewell as in “peace be with you” or could signify the cessation of conflict or the presence of tranquility.

(ESV)

13For you were called to freedom, brothers.

No Peace

Lack of Peace comes with sin – whether it is our own or we are affected by the sins of others

We work to find peace. It’s built into us to want peace!

1. We take vacations

2. We struggle with our sin – trying to get away from the struggle

3. We find ways to rest, relax, veg out, and sometimes just sleep!

4. We look for peace in many ways – exercise, financial, family, friends, and possessions.

(ESV)

22“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

(ESV)

3You said, ‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’

(ESV)

2It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

(ESV)

14Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. 15Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. 16For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

Know Peace

Peace is elusive.

Its difficult to find and even more difficult to maintain.

As a pastor it is easy to say – God brings peace.

It’s true but it’s also seems difficult.

(ESV)

1I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

(ESV)

6There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”

(ESV)

21My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion, 22and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. 23Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 24If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

(ESV)

8In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

The world tells us that there is no peace in God.

(ESV)

1O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; 2many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah 3But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. 4I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah 5I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. 6I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Ultimately - the quest for peace is a journey to reach God.

(ESV)

26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

It is the reaching and stretching that changes us and builds our confidence in our Heavenly Father.

1. God is in control

2. It takes time and effort.

3. He is simply waiting for us to catch up to Him.

(ESV)

22One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

(ESV)

3You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Peace comes when we are convinced that God’s plans are trustworthy and he is in control.