Finding Shalom
Today’s post piggy backs on last week’s post titled The 11th Commandment, which gives tips on how to deal with negative emotions. Once you’ve gone through those 5 steps, then it will be easier to find “Shalom”. The two 2-4 minute videos below, will help you understand and define the word from a historic Hebrew and biblical perspective.
The word itself is quite all encompassing, but basically it means wholeness and peace in every area of life. But, what if your idea of peace is different than my idea of peace? JewsForJesus.org discusses this question in the following quote :
Shalom and peace
Peace! Peace! Peace! Everybody's for it. Nobody is against it. But what is that very elusive quality we call peace? For it means different things to different people.
Peace is what those who follow Eastern religions say comes only through the obliteration of the individual personality; becoming a part of the universe with no awareness of self. But they really mean serenity.
Peace is what the elderly neighbor wants when the teenager across the street is practicing on his drums. She really wants quiet.
Peace is what the shopkeeper wants when he's worried about paying his bills. He really means that he'd like his store to be busy and bustling with customers. Peace to him means prosperity.
The patient waiting anxiously in the doctor's office to be told the results of a battery of lab tests wants peace. He really means good health.
At the most extreme, some, like Hitler, peace results from killing people—at least it means killing to attain their kind of peace.
When we don't have what we think we should have, we say we need peace! (Click here to read the rest of the article.)
The bottom line, however, is that true peace is having God’s peace. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Eph 4:6-7
There is so much brokenness and such a lack of wholeness right now in this world. And bringing it closer to home, how many of us are dealing with brokenness right in our own hearts? Finding Shalom means doing what the above text says. Jesus told His disciples, “You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.” John 13:17
May you find Shalom in every area of your life, so that you can be blessed and be a blessing In Jesus Name! Go forth bold, blessed, and brilliant! Subscribe and comment below.