Shalom in Today's World

One morning as I read my Bible, I asked God a question.  The answer overwhelmed me.

It didn't come all at once.  The answer started as a word, one word, and then grew into something larger than I imagined.  It became a picture.  As all the pieces slowly fit together, I sat down here to process and share what He put in my heart.

Here's the story.

      

Once upon a time, the world was this huge, beautiful masterpiece.  Back in Eden, things were perfect (Genesis 1-2).  The little bits of glory that we find today were all unified into this grand, epic world where Jesus was everything and people literally lived in His presence (Genesis 3:8).

Fruit was juicer.  Color more vibrant.  Air more sweet.  Love more true.  Because we had Jesus.

Imagine the world as bursting with color, like the paint on a canvas that just piles up until you can't separate one color from another.  They sweep together, never ending.  They're just so huge.

But then that broke (Genesis 3).  That peace shattered into a million pieces.  Life was like a puzzle - all those shapes and colors working together as one big picture - but now it was broken into so many separate pieces.

It was as if the world became black and white.  Not everything changed, but they weren't the same.  We were left with something missing.  It's still that way today.

We hurt.  We cry.  Sometimes, life's just hard.

But, every once in a while, we see a streak of color.  A flash of red or blur of green.  It's like the stray puzzle piece that's broken in two, and we only see a portion of it.

We had peace - shalom - but we lost it.  Yet not entirely.  Because sometimes, I catch a glimpse of it.

I walk in the woods and hear the rustling of trees, clapping their hands in praise to the Lord.  And there, in that single moment, I see a flash of the color in our black and white world.

Or I receive a letter in the mail, just a note from a friend who says, "I love you."  The swirls of flowers and butterflies on the envelope make something inside me grow warm.  And I see a flash of color.

Or my family gathers with another family, all of us who just love Jesus with this radical love.  And, seated around, we sing praise songs at the top of our lungs.  We share and cry and sing, and sometimes I want to dance.  Because there's that piece of color inside us that just needs to be shared.

That peace in Eden was shattered into a million pieces.  And yet they're not lost.

Every believer has one.  We hold a fragment of that peace - that bit of color - and can give it to a lost world (2 Corinthians 5:20).  We hold the power to offer Jesus' peace because He put it in our hearts.

So I'm here.  I only have a quarter of a puzzle piece, but it's beautiful anyway.  The edges are chipped.  Sometime I forget about it and live without that peace - shalom.  But it's still inside me waiting for me to live fully in Christ.

When I choose to live in that God-given shalom, it's glorious.  I feel the peace deep inside, even when all else fails.  I love others and share that hint of color because I want them to find their own shalom in Jesus.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

- Matthew 5:9

I cultivate it in my own life.  I share it with the lost, those who live in a black and white world.  And when I gather with other believers, we bring together our broken puzzle pieces, join them together, and have a handful of whole, complete ones.

I can't wait for when Jesus returns to find every church holding up their connected pieces and declaring, "Here's the shalom you entrusted to us.  We lived in it, shared it, and are now giving it back to you!"

I wonder what it will be like when He joins the broken fragments together, back into that whole puzzle that we lost in Eden.  What glory will Heaven have if it contains the little beauties of today and a hundred times more?

Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

- 2 Corinthians 13:11

 

That's the story.

Maybe it doesn't make sense.  Maybe it's redundant and twisted and not perfectly accurate.

Oh, but how I long for that shalom.  How I can't wait for Heaven's beauty when the black and white of today will be replaced with full color!  When we return to the glory we lost in Eden, and when all of our pieces will be joined together in unity.  When we see Jesus face to face and hear Him reward our faithfulness.

So I want to live today, grasping onto that shalom, that fleeting color, and never letting go.  I want to share it with a hurting world so that they can find the hint of color and come before Jesus rejoicing.

Peace.  Shalom.  Color.

That day, I asked God a question: what is peace?  And He swept me away with images and memories and colors.  He brought me from the past of Eden to the future of Heaven and the brokenness in between.

And yet it wasn't entirely broken because Jesus was still there.  He came to earth to bring us shalom.  I rejoice because I find fragments of His beauty around me every time I open my eyes to it.

When I looked up the Greek word for peace, it defined the desire that propels me to find Jesus' beauty in my everyday life.  Now it's one of my favorite words.

εἰρήνη (eiréné):  peace; when all essential parts are joined together; the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoerer sort that is

- Biblehub

Or as another author described shalom,

Wholeness and completeness in God.  The way things were intended to be.

- A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes

That's what I'm searching for: completeness in God.  Finding His glory in the midst of this life and living my days to give the glory back to Him.

Christmas represents shalom coming to earth, and I want to embrace that, treasure Jesus, and rejoice in the gifts He gives (James 1:17).

Merry (although late) Christmas, dear friends!  No matter what, you are so loved, right now.  And that's truth, because God loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).

And despite all the pain, there's beauty in this broken world.  Let's live, seeking His shalom.  ♥

 

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

- Colossians 3:15

~♥~