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Peace - Joy

My mate Chris reminded us about Advent at church last night, the celebration of joy, hope, peace and love. It was a wonderful reminder of the "good news" of this particular season in the church calendar. I was re-reading some excerpts of Yaconelli on peace and joy today as I prepared for a talk this weekend and stumbled across this quote.

Peace is supposed to be one of the fruits of conversion, and it is. But does that mean, as some suggest, that the Christian has an inner tranquility and serenity that makes him oblivious to outside conditions? Does peace imply for the Christian that tragedy, evil, suffering, pain, and discouragement are unable to penetrate his composure?

Peace describes a condition rather than a demeanor. Peace is the result of salvation, which means that man and God are no longer at war. Peace describes the state of man after conversion. He is at peace with God. Peace is not a protective shield from the battle around us. It does not make us immune to pain and suffering. Peace is not a drug which makes us oblivious to symptoms.

Biblical joy has nothing to do with our emotional state or conditions and circumstance. It is independent of all the chance and changes in life. Joy is the description of the believers’ condition, which is complete dependence on the character of God. Joy is permanent confidence in his resources and character. It’s not happiness, and it’s not a sentimental, superficial grin on your face. It’s the unchanging quality that remains despite pain, suffering, tears, changes in fortune, and even financial collapse.

If you are feeling a bit flat or discouraged, I suggest sitting down for the next couple of minutes and watching this vid of Yaconelli in action. I've posted it on my blog before, but it is so good it is worth watching every couple of months.

This entry was posted by Sam, on Friday, December 14, 2007. You can leave your response.

“Peace - Joy”

  1. Blogger BK Says:
    17 December 2007 at 11:24:00 am NZDT  

    nice post bro... good to let people know it's not about false smiles or some sort of unatainable peace - but that we can have peace and joy as a "condition" and "unchanging quality"

    these last few months of decision making & big change on the horizon has thrown up some tumultuous times - but that unequivocal peace that comes from not battling God has made ALL the difference :)

  2. Blogger Mich Says:
    20 December 2007 at 10:51:00 am NZDT  

    Good Post, I sat through a pap Christmas pageant that talked about the usual paece and love garbage - I just wanted to throw a Bible at the women who was speaking, she missed the point and i certainly don't want "that" Hallmark Christian understanding being taught to my kids - especialy when we have worked so hard to get a more biblical and more Christian understanding into their heads
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