On the way to work I would see the sign, “We Sell Peace of Mind.”
I don’t recall how exactly they were planning to do that, but I think the sign was for an insurance company of some sort. I thought about the concept of selling peace for a bit. At first it seemed like a very odd concept to view peace as something that could be exchanged between two parties in return for money. Sure, depending on what you are worried about it can make sense, like paying someone else to take care of your dog when you can’t could relieve worry. When we don’t feel secure we tend to view peace as something we can gain through getting something we can put confidence in to make up for whatever we lack. Not having all your eggs in one basket can prevent a huge loss if one breaks but that is no guarantee that the other won’t break as well.
So, can anyone really sell peace of mind? What can you buy that would give it to you? Nothing in and of itself can make you feel peaceful because ultimately our sense of peace is related to what we choose to put our confidence in. We can distrust a truthful person or dependable thing and worry when we could have peace that won’t disappoint and we can trust an untruthful person or undependable thing and have great peace doing so just to end up with pieces in the end. So, anything thing we buy or pursue in our search for peace is actually rooted in an allusion because it is not the other person or thing that gives peace, but our own willingness to trust.
So, who or what can you trust? “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” Psalm 127:1. This is not to say that we are advised to not care about our wellbeing. The Bible also says, “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on, and are punished for it.” Proverbs 22:3 We are supposed to care about our wellbeing and avoid foolishness if we can, but we are not to seek to achieve peace by putting confidence in our own efforts and distrusting God.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.’ The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:5-9.
Our hearts are not to turn away from the Lord to seek peace from somewhere else. We can put our full confidence in God because God is real and dependable. We don’t have to worry. “Though the mountains depart and the hills be shaken, My love will not depart from you, nor will My covenant of peace be shaken, says Adonai who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10. “You keep in perfect peace one whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3
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