Jesus Is Our Prince of Peace Even When Life Feels Anything but Peaceful

Today I’m sharing an article over at One Determined Life. As part of a larger series on the names of God, I’m exploring the idea of what it means for Jesus to be our Prince of Peace.

Although the conversation happened more than ten years ago, I remember it vividly. I sat at a cafe table cradling a cup of lukewarm coffee between my hands. In recent days I had experienced a depressive slump and couldn’t seem to lift myself out of it.

I looked at my friend and asked her, “If we’re Christians, we’re supposed to have the peace of God, right?”

She nodded her head.

I asked, “Then why doesn’t it always feel that way?”

My friend could only answer, with a knitted brow, “I don’t know…”

I looked out the nearby window feeling the weight of my emotions not understanding why my life wasn’t lining up with God’s promise of peace.

Maybe you’ve encountered this dissonance between biblical truth and your emotional reality in the past, or maybe you’re experiencing it right now. 

Jesus tells us he gives us peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27a). Why then, do we not always feel at peace? Why does it seem our peace is here one moment and broken to shards around our feet the next? We want to believe he gives us peace and is our peace, but our lives can often look and feel chaotic.

It’s easy to conclude that since God and His Word are truth, and his Word promises peace, then the problem is us. Have you ever wondered, like I have, if there’s something you’re doing (or not doing) that is messing up the perfect peace of Jesus?

Before we can sort out the problem, we first have to understand the biblical definition of peace and what God’s promises about peace mean for us today.

To continue reading, click over to One Determined Life.

I’d love to hear in the comments—have you experienced a time in your life when you couldn’t seem to lay hold of God’s peace? What did you learn about yourself or God during that time?