I will shout for joy and sing your praises,
….for you have ransomed me.
I will tell about your righteous deeds
….all day long, Psalm 71:23-24a NLT

John 16:29-33 (<<click here to read the passage)

Just a few moments ago I finished reading Alex Trebek’s memoir, The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life. A very dear friend shared it with me some months back. It contains short pithy chapters. He speaks of his childhood, his family – both from youth and his wife and children. Of course, he shares the many points of his career, and believe it or not, he was not always hosting Jeopardy!, though he did so for 37 seasons.

In the final chapter, entitled The Answer Is…Life, he shares that in his final days he would be perfectly content with sitting on the swing out in his yard. From that vantage point, he can take in a large portion of his property. He paints a picture of peace, nothing extravagant, just simple peace.

He died on November 8, 2020, at age 80, after a 20-month battle with stage IV pancreatic cancer.

We could all probably describe what we would say is our perfect place of peace. I have a friend whose one place of peace is on her deck on a cool morning with a cup of coffee clasped in her hands. Maybe yours is curled up with a book by a crackling fire, book in hand. Or it could be sitting in your favorite spot by the open water of a beautiful pond with a bright blue sky overhead.

No matter how good all those things may be, there is only one place of perfect peace, and that is in Christ.

He said in verse 33,

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.] – emphasis mine

We all need peace and far too frequently, those times are way too far and between. We don’t always have the opportunity to sit in our swing or on our deck or by the fire or pond, but no matter where we may find ourselves, no matter what tribulation or distress or suffering we may be engulfed by, if we are in Christ, we can find that perfect peace. Then, and only then, can we be courageous, confident, undaunted, and filled with joy. Christ has “overcome the world” and that is where we find our peace.

Oct 11th, 2021, Mon, 7:08 pm