Peace and faith

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance,

endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.

This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

These words start with a peace that we obtain because of faith.  It’s a peace that escapes us if we have no faith. This world tries to assure us that there is no peace among the troubles that are inescapable.

We are all reduced to the same level in the midst of troubles.  Affliction does not focus on the rich, the poor, the healthy or the sick.  It includes all of us in its net and our body or mind is beaten down to only be able to focus on taking the next breath.  At such times, status does not matter.

Yet God promises a peace as our life crumbles.  It’s an odd sort of thing that one can only understand once it is experienced.  The peace is provided because (and only because) of God’s presence.  Even someone that has no faith in God learns this when the pain intensifies enough.

This verse works us through the lesson plan of pain and affliction.  The first chapter of the lesson plan is faith.  The end of the lesson is hope.  The target is peace - not, unfortunately, freedom from the pain. 

Peace is a good focus.  Most days we would seek peace if we take a moment to think through what it is we want in life.  Most of us never stop long enough to even think about a life goal. But if we did, peace is always at the top of the list. 

The plan for it is laid out and it starts with faith. We know what faith is - the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

Of course the only thing faith refers to is an unseen God.