Peace Isn't the Absence of Trouble
November 9, 2026 | When Hope Comes Home — An Eight-Week Journey Toward Advent
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” — John 14:27 (NIV)
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just get everything in life to settle down for a little while?
No unexpected problems. No difficult conversations. No financial worries. No family disagreements. No phone calls that interrupt your dinner with news you really didn't want to hear.
Just a few days when everything goes according to plan.
I don't know about you, but I've discovered that those days are pretty rare.
And if you've spent much time in pastoral ministry, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
You can spend weeks planning a special worship service, only to discover on Sunday morning that the sound system isn't working. You finally get the church finances moving in the right direction, and the heating system decides it's time to retire.
Or perhaps you've worked hard to help your congregation move toward a new vision for ministry, only to discover that not everyone shares your enthusiasm.
Sometimes it feels like every time you get one problem solved, two more show up to take its place.
And somewhere along the way, we find ourselves thinking, "If I could just get everything under control, maybe I could finally have some peace."
But here's something I've learned over the years.
If your peace depends on everything going right, you're probably not going to experience much peace.
Fortunately, Jesus offers us something better.
A Promise Made in Troubled Times
One of the things I find remarkable about Jesus' promise in John 14:27 is when He made it.
Jesus wasn't sitting with His disciples beside a quiet lake on a beautiful afternoon, enjoying a peaceful break from ministry.
He was preparing them for some of the most difficult hours of their lives.
The cross was approaching.
Jesus knew that He would soon be arrested, condemned, and crucified. He knew His disciples would be frightened, confused, and scattered.
And in the middle of preparing them for what was coming, He said:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you."
Think about that.
Jesus promised peace to people whose lives were about to be turned upside down.
He didn't promise that they would avoid suffering.
He didn't promise that everything would work out the way they expected.
And He certainly didn't promise that following Him would make their lives easier.
Instead, He promised them His peace.
Then He added something important:
"I do not give to you as the world gives."
The world's understanding of peace is usually tied to circumstances.
Peace means the bills are paid, the family is getting along, the doctor gives you a good report, and everything seems to be going according to plan.
And there's nothing wrong with being thankful for those blessings.
But the peace Jesus offers is different.
The peace of Christ isn't the absence of trouble. It's the assurance of His presence in the middle of it.
That's a promise worth holding on to.
The Illusion of Being in Control
I suspect one of the reasons we struggle to experience peace is our desire to control everything.
We want to know what's coming.
We want to understand why things happen.
We want to make plans and be reasonably certain that those plans will work out.
And when life doesn't cooperate, we become anxious.
Pastors can be especially vulnerable to this.
After all, we're accustomed to being responsible for things.
We plan worship services. We prepare sermons. We organize ministries. We work with leadership teams to develop budgets and establish goals.
And when problems arise, people often look to us for answers.
But here's the reality.
There are a lot of things in ministry that we simply cannot control.
You cannot make someone attend worship.
You cannot force a person to become a disciple of Jesus.
You cannot guarantee that everyone in your congregation will agree with every decision.
You cannot prevent every conflict, solve every financial problem, or ensure that every ministry succeeds.
And you certainly cannot control how quickly God answers your prayers.
That's not an excuse for poor leadership or a lack of planning.
It's simply a reminder that we're human.
We have responsibilities, but we also have limitations.
And sometimes our anxiety grows because we're trying to carry responsibilities that were never ours to carry in the first place.
The Apostle Paul understood this.
Writing to the Philippians, he said:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." — Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Paul wasn't writing those words from a life of comfort and ease. He was writing as someone who had experienced imprisonment, persecution, hardship, and uncertainty.
Yet he pointed believers toward prayer.
And then he offered this promise:
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 4:7 (NIV)
Notice what Paul didn't say.
He didn't say God would immediately remove every problem.
He didn't promise that every prayer would be answered according to our expectations.
He said God's peace would guard our hearts and minds.
Sometimes God changes our circumstances.
And sometimes He sustains us while we walk through them.
Either way, we can trust Him.
When the Church Is Anything but Peaceful
Let's bring this a little closer to home.
If you've served in a smaller church for very long, you've probably experienced seasons when peace seemed to be in short supply.
Maybe there was disagreement over a decision made by the leadership team.
Perhaps a long-standing conflict resurfaced.
Maybe the congregation was struggling financially, and everyone had a different opinion about what should be done.
Or perhaps the church had simply become discouraged because attendance was declining and the future seemed uncertain.
I've been there. And I know how easy it is to carry those concerns home at the end of the day.
You replay conversations in your mind.
You wonder whether you said the right thing.
You think about what you could have done differently.
And sometimes you lie awake at night trying to solve problems that won't be solved by worrying about them.
Here's something I wish every pastor could learn early in ministry.
You can be faithful to your calling without being responsible for every outcome.
That's an important distinction.
God calls us to shepherd His people, proclaim His Word, equip disciples, and lead with integrity.
But He never asked us to become the Savior of the Church.
That position has already been filled.
Jesus is the Head of the Church. He is the Good Shepherd.
And He loves the people we serve even more than we do.
Sometimes finding peace in ministry begins when we remember whose Church it really is.
That doesn't mean we stop caring.
It means we stop pretending that everything depends on us.
Peace Doesn't Mean Avoiding Difficult Things
Now, before we go any further, I want to make something clear.
Experiencing the peace of Christ doesn't mean avoiding difficult conversations or refusing to deal with problems.
I've known churches that seemed peaceful on the surface because nobody wanted to talk about the things that were wrong.
People avoided disagreements.
They ignored unhealthy behavior.
They refused to address ministries that were no longer effective.
And everyone tried to keep things pleasant.
But that's not necessarily peace.
Sometimes it's simply conflict avoidance.
Biblical peace is much deeper than maintaining a comfortable atmosphere.
The Hebrew concept of shalom carries the idea of wholeness, well-being, and things being made right.
That kind of peace may actually require us to face difficult circumstances rather than avoid them.
Sometimes a pastor has to initiate an uncomfortable conversation.
Sometimes a congregation needs to acknowledge that something isn't working.
Sometimes relationships need to be repaired, forgiveness needs to be extended, or changes need to be made.
Those moments may not feel peaceful. But they can become part of God's work of bringing healing and wholeness.
Jesus never called us to preserve comfort at the expense of faithfulness. He called us to follow Him. And sometimes following Him means walking through difficult places with the confidence that He is walking with us.
Learning to Practice Peace
So how do we experience the peace Jesus promised?
I wish I could give you a simple formula that would eliminate every anxious thought and difficult circumstance.
But I can't.
What I can tell you is that peace grows as we learn to trust God more deeply.
And like most things in the Christian life, that trust develops through practice.
We begin by bringing our concerns honestly before God.
Not pretending everything is fine.
Not trying to impress Him with spiritual-sounding prayers.
Just telling Him what's on our hearts.
"Lord, I'm worried about my family."
"Lord, I don't know what to do about this situation at church."
"Lord, I'm tired, and I need Your strength."
"Lord, I don't understand what's happening, but I want to trust You."
Paul tells us to bring our requests to God with thanksgiving and I think that’s important.
Gratitude helps us remember that the God we're trusting today is the same God who has been faithful to us in the past.
We remember answered prayers.
We remember unexpected provisions.
We remember difficult seasons we never thought we'd get through.
And we discover that God was with us through every one of them.
That doesn't mean every situation turned out the way we wanted.
But it does mean we were never abandoned.
And that gives us a reason to trust Him again.
We also learn to practice peace by recognizing the difference between what we can do and what we must entrust to God.
There may be a conversation you need to have.
A decision you need to make.
An apology you need to offer.
A step of obedience you need to take.
Do what God has placed before you.
Then release the outcome into His hands.
Peace grows when we stop demanding control over tomorrow and begin trusting God with today.
The Prince of Peace Is Coming
As we continue our journey toward Advent, I want you to think about the world into which Jesus was born.
It wasn't a peaceful world.
Israel lived under Roman rule.
Political tensions were real. Economic hardships were common. Many people longed for freedom from oppression.
And into that troubled world, God sent His Son.
Centuries earlier, Isaiah had declared that the coming Messiah would be called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
But when Jesus arrived, He didn't immediately remove Roman occupation.
He didn't eliminate every injustice.
He didn't establish the kind of earthly kingdom many people expected.
Instead, He came to reconcile sinful humanity to God.
Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus made possible the peace with God that we could never achieve on our own.
And He promised His followers a peace that would sustain them even when the world around them remained troubled.
That's what makes Advent so meaningful.
We aren't simply preparing to celebrate the birth of a baby in Bethlehem.
We're preparing to remember the arrival of the One who came to make us whole.
The One who reconciles us to God.
The One who teaches us to love our enemies, forgive those who hurt us, and become peacemakers in a divided world.
The One who promises never to leave us or forsake us.
And as we look forward to His return, we remember that the fullness of His peace is still to come.
Until then, we live as people of hope.
Not because the world is peaceful.
But because the Prince of Peace has come.
A Final Word of Encouragement
Let me leave you with a simple exercise this week.
Find a quiet place where you can spend a few minutes alone with God.
Take a piece of paper and write down one situation that's been robbing you of peace.
Maybe it's something happening in your family.
Maybe it's a concern about your church.
Maybe it's a decision you've been struggling to make.
Whatever it is, write it down.
Then ask yourself two questions.
What is God asking me to do about this situation?
What am I trying to control that I need to place in His hands?
There may be a step of obedience you need to take.
Take it.
But there may also be something you simply need to surrender.
Give it to God in prayer.
And when that worry comes back tomorrow, as it probably will, bring it to Him again.
Remember, trusting God isn't always a one-time decision.
Sometimes it's a choice we make over and over again.
Pastor, you don't have to have every answer.
You don't have to solve every problem.
And you don't have to carry every burden alone.
The Church belongs to Jesus.
Your future belongs to Him.
And so does tomorrow.
Peace isn't found in having everything under control. It's found in trusting the One who does.
Join Me on the Journey Toward Advent
This is the fifth article in our eight-week series, When Hope Comes Home: Preparing Our Hearts for the God Who Comes Near.
Each Monday, we're exploring how God meets us in the ordinary and sometimes difficult seasons of life as we prepare our hearts for Advent and Christmas.
And I'm excited to share some news!
My new Advent devotional, When Hope Comes Home: Rediscovering Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love This Christmas, is now available for purchase!
This devotional is an invitation to slow down, pull up a chair, and prepare your heart for Christmas through Scripture-centered reflections, thoughtful questions, practical steps of faith, and prayer.
Whether you're looking for a personal devotional, something to share with a friend, or a resource for your congregation or small group, I hope it will help you rediscover the extraordinary promises of Christmas.
Order your copy here:
Next Monday, November 16, we'll explore "Rediscovering Joy in Ordinary Ministry." We'll return to the shepherds outside Bethlehem and discover how God often brings extraordinary joy into the most ordinary moments of life.
And I'd love to hear from you.
When have you experienced God's peace in the middle of a difficult season?
Share your story in the comments. It may be exactly the encouragement someone else needs today.
And if this article encouraged you, please share it with a pastor, church leader, or friend who needs a reminder that the peace of Christ is available even when life is anything but peaceful.
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