Every Longing Heart
Sunday, December 7, 2025
Today’s Reading: John 14
My therapist recently said to me, “Now, wait. Just because there’s quiet doesn’t mean there’s peace.” Ooh, that was good. I wrote that one down. I don’t think I’m the only one who settles for a false peace. Countries may stop shooting, but that doesn’t mean hostilities aren’t still simmering. You may keep your head down at work, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t popping Tums like candy to help with the stress. Your estranged family member may not have berated you recently, but there’s still a rift.
So what do we think would qualify for real peace? If countries stopped fighting, surely that’d be peace. Messiah will do that!
He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4 AND Micah 4:3 NIV) (Did you know two prophets spoke this? I didn’t!)
Well, sure, but then what about interpersonal conflict? Okay, if people stopped arguing, that’d be peace. Well, okay, but then what about the anxiety and worry within me? Okay, let’s say we all get everything we think we need. No more worries. Then there would be peace in the world, in relationships, and in my mind. Peace all around, right?
We’re still not quite there. Peace isn’t only the absence of conflict; true peace is the presence of Jesus. I guess today is as good a day as any to share the quote that has been constantly on my heart all the weeks I’ve been writing this. Peter Kreeft called it “...one of the greatest sentences ever written, the basic theme . . . of life itself.” St. Augustine wrote Confessions around 400AD, and in it he says:
Because you have made us for Yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.
Honestly, this entire devotional is just an unpacking of that one sentence. An article by Justin Taylor added a deeper insight. The original Latin here would more appropriately be closer to “you have made us toward Yourself.” It’s like he’s saying we are moving, searching, drawn to something. It’s similar to the way homing pigeons want to fly back home or the way Tolkien’s One Ring is drawn back to its creator, Sauron. (Though, to clarify, its creator was evil and ours is good.)
Even if we were given every earthly satisfaction, our spirits could not be fully at peace until they entered back into relationship with their Creator. This is why Jesus is the only way to true peace, because He is the only way back into relationship with the holy God who created us.
So again we see an “already” and a “not yet.” Jesus will one day return, and with the destruction of Satan, He will bring eternal peace. Until that time, though, He promises us a peace that is beyond understanding, one that can help us settle our hearts in the midst of the brokenness.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You” (Isaiah 26:3 NIV)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27 NIV)
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 NIV)
“He Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14 NIV)
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6 NIV)