Continuously Monitor Your Peace . . . Find the Seat of Grace.

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27 NKJ)

The French architect Le Corbusier called the George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River "the most beautiful bridge in the world . . . the only seat of grace in the disordered city." I have been to Washington, D.C., but I didn't know it was more disorderly than any other American city.

Yet, since Washington is the center of American government and justice, what flows out of this city will create peace or chaos across these United States. All our lives are negatively or positively affected by the political issues decided there. Peace or chaos, that is the question!

And almost all American citizens will vote for peace, anytime, every time. None of us truly desire the chaotic desperation of civil destabilization. Peace and safety are foundational stones in our personal hierarchy of need.

In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote A Theory of Human Motivation, in which he discussed the pattern of human motivation, including peace and safety. And since that time, the field of Psychology has developed what is known as the Attachment Theory, which deals with the relational aspect of human motivation and need. Now we humans don't sit around processing our lives through an awareness prism of first, second, third, and so forth, but peace is present or missing in every human need.

Yet, neither politics nor psychology gives sufficient, lasting peace. Politics may serve to keep civil peace, but it's a worldly peace. Psychology may give us understanding of what, why and wherefore, but it is a worldly peace. Both of them miss the deeply-rooted desire for peace that cannot be explained.

Jesus said that he would give peace that was not the sort of peace which the world issues. His is a peace that the world does not give and cannot take away. His is a peace that resists explanation because it exists no matter what is happening around us. And it doesn't override our humanity. Instead, his peace replaces fear with faith and confidence and trust. His peace calms the most troubled seas in our lives. His peace is the true seat of grace in a disordered world.

Dear Father, thank you for your peace that you give. Empower us with faith, confidence, trust and peace. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Are you lacking peace in your life? Jesus gives peace . . . the real, enduring kind.