Read John 14:15-31

“²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Every one of us has unique troubles and fears. For some, it’s the pace of change and uncertainty, while for others it’s health challenges, financial hurdles or family disunity.

Yet even when our day-to-day circumstances are stable, fear of what could potentially go wrong in the future can still cripple some of us. Though we live in the most prosperous, secure and peaceful time in history, society is more anxious and stressed than ever. Fear can crush individuals and families and deep down we all know, “Life isn’t meant to be like this!”

Jesus agrees. He desires our world to be in peace, not chaos. However, in John 14:27 Jesus doesn’t give his attention to the troubles and fears that we are so easily distracted by. Rather, Jesus put his attention on – and now calls our attention to – our hearts.

If we had it our way we’d probably ask God for magical powers to banish all external troubles and hardships from our lives. However, Jesus gives us a greater challenge, the challenge to see internal transformation in our hearts – the very centre of our being.

Jesus says in John chapter 14 that he accomplishes this internal heart transformation through the presence and power of his Holy Spirit. He gives us his Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Him. And it’s his Holy Spirit’s presence in our life that brings us peace. This is why every one of us who follows Jesus in faith can have peace amidst any trouble or fear.

Jesus is offering us an entirely new strategy to address fear in our lives. Simply trying to minimise the troubles and fears around us isn’t enough. Rather, we need to take moments each day to appreciate God’s presence and peace within us.

This is more than just a private gift for you and I. God’s peace is a powerful gift that, if treasured well, will begin to ripple out to calm the troubles and fears of the world around us.

Today, why don’t you experiment with treasuring God’s peaceful presence in your life? You might consider a simple prayer (written, spoken or thought) thanking God for his presence or slowly read Psalm 16 or 84 and then meditate on what it might mean for you personally. If God highlights part of these psalms (or any other scripture about his presence), you could write it out and stick it on your wall, fridge or mirror! Some people write calendar notes or reminders on their phones so that at key moments in each day, they are reminded that, “God’s presence is within them!”