Embrace Peace

Shalom. It means peace. But there’s more to the word than that. It’s a culturally important term that has endured for thousands of years for the Jewish people. It carries a sense of completeness, wholeness, and being fully satisfied.

That’s the peace God wants for you. And that’s the peace necessary if you’re going to last as a high-capacity leader. Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be conflict. Shalom peace isn’t about a lack of conflict; it’s about a mental and emotional state despite what’s going on around you. It’s the type of peace described in Psalm 23.

Our culture and society are all about addition and multiplication. Yet peace comes from subtraction. The world says peace comes through knowing more, but could it be that Jesus wants us to know less? The world wants us to read more, listen more, watch more . . . We’re encouraged to consume everything because knowledge is perceived as power, and that power is falsely promoted as peace because it gives us the impression of control. But Jesus doesn’t want us to listen to the world. He wants us to listen more to him—to his Holy Spirit:

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (John 14:26–27 NIV)

We do need knowledge and information to navigate life and make wise decisions, but we don’t need all the information. We need the right kind of information. Be careful and deliberate about the information you choose to consume.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1–8, Solomon talks about there being times for everything. Just like there are times for planting and times for harvesting, there will be times for intense research and consuming lots of information, and also times when you stop and seek peace. Be aware of what season you’re in and respect it.

As you move through this day and week, be selective with the information you’re choosing to consume and try to carve out more space for God to speak. His words can fill your life with wisdom, reassurance, and a peace that passes all understanding—but only if you make room to listen.