Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
Making peace requires the bringing of opposing parties together. Peace is not had by separation. Peace is more than just physical; it is a harmony at all levels. Thus, separation alone, although it may bring physical quietness, does not accomplish emotional and spiritual harmony and accord.
Proverbs 18:1, in the amplified versions says this:
HE WHO willfully separates and estranges himself [from God and man] seeks his own desire and pretext to break out against all wise and sound judgment.
When we isolate ourselves we are breaking out against wisdom and sound judgment. The difficult thing is that our culture and our natural desire is to isolate ourselves. We are quick to find a book to absorb ourselves into, or a TV show, or a movie, or an ice cream sundae, or a newspaper, or a game of golf, or a hunting trip, or a long ride on the back of a motorcycle - anything to distract ourselves from the conflict we face in the world.
We love to isolate ourselves from our spouses when we have a conflict. Rather than address problems we simply busy ourselves with things and ignore the lack of peace inside our hearts. We can’t talk about our marital or personal problems but we can talk about the kids’ soccer game or a movie, or, better yet, we can talk about the problems that a family at church is having, especially if it is a family that we’ve never really “clicked” with anyway.
Have you ever thought about whether your constant “need” for a little downtime alone might be a trick of the Enemy to get you in that corner where you can’t seem to help yourself against that nagging sin? Whether such times are really just spiritual traps and losing battles in the real war?
God desires that we meet the world head on and be His ambassador. He has given us a ministry to do - the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5. We cannot “do” reconciliation without being peacemakers and without being people who build relationships, even when people aren’t “nice” to us. And we can’t be effective ministers if we aren’t even at peace with the one person we are united with, our spouse. And, in my opinion, I’m not sure we can be ministers of the gospel by separating from others because they don’t believe the same doctrine as we do.
Have you ever had that experience where you keep on running into that one person you wish you wouldn’t run into? Hmmmm, perhaps that is God, in His wonderful grace, bringing about opportunities for you to reconcile rather than just bad luck. Instead of looking away or pretending you don’t see them, what might happen if you greeted them “in the name” of Jesus; in other words, what if you loved them like Jesus would, bringing glory to who Jesus is in your life? What if you set aside your selfish interests and all your rights to be angry with that person because of what they’ve “done to you,” and you tried to encourage them?
Posted by: Bryan Riley
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