Getting Equipped

Biblical shalom involves wholeness, delight, and a sense of meaning and purpose for all of God’s creation. Shalom is the way things are supposed to be! This includes four facets: peace with nature, peace in society, peace with ourselves, and peace with God. This is the second in the series on peace with God.
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At the end of the Book of Hebrews, there is a beautiful benediction that reads as follows: “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (13:20-21).

Because the readers of this book were most likely Jewish converts familiar with the Old Testament, the images used in this benediction would have communicated a powerful message. The “God of peace,” a familiar descriptive title in the Old Testament, was linked to his covenant and to his son, the “great Shepherd” as described by the prophets.

This reference might bring to mind the prophecy of Isaiah, for example, where he describes the Lord who is coming and who will “tend his flock like a shepherd” and will “gather the lambs in his arms” and ”carry them close to his heart” (Isaiah 40:11). After grounding this prayer in words that religious Jews would recognize, the author went on to the heart of his petition: the equipping of the saints “with everything good for doing his will.”

The Amplified Bible adds a helpful insight with its translation of these words: “Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be.” J. B. Phillips’ paraphrase puts it this way: “Equip you thoroughly for the doing of his will.” God’s plan is to enable us to be agents of his Kingdom and he promises to give us the strength and ability to do the job.

Followers of Jesus have a unique opportunity to be involved in the implementation of God’s strategic plan for history. In fact, this benediction in Hebrews tells us that we will find our greatest fulfillment in life as men and women when we do God’s will. Determining God’s will for our time is not always easy, but being shalom-makers – working for peace, is certainly part of our calling. Anything less will leave us unfulfilled and dissatisfied.

Here’s the bottom line: Peace with God comes at God’s initiative and is available to us by faith alone. Peace with God means we can be equipped with everything we need to do his will and this brings pleasure to him and honors Jesus, our Lord. Peace with God means we can become what we ought to be – truly and fully human as God’s creations.

So What?

• Have you ever worked hard at something only to achieve it and feel let down, unfulfilled, unsatisfied? Can you pinpoint why?
• And have you worked hard at something and felt satisfied and fulfilled? Can you figure out what was the difference?
• God promises to equip us, so why are we afraid to step out in faith? Learning to trust in God’s promises requires that we have the courage to “step out of the boat,” like Peter did, but without looking down at the waves.

In Deep Water

Biblical shalom involves wholeness, delight, and a sense of meaning and purpose for all of God’s creation. Shalom is the way things are supposed to be! This includes four facets: peace with nature, peace in society, peace with ourselves, and peace with God. This is the first in the series on peace with God.
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Only a few people in the Bible are described as “righteous” and “blameless” in God’s sight. Noah was one. I found this passage in Genesis about Noah to be a powerful one: “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. . . . But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God” (6:5-6, 8-9, NIV).

As the story of Noah is traced through the following chapters of Genesis, the refrain that repeatedly appears is this: “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” When God ordered him to build an ark with specific measurements out of cypress wood and to arrange for the preservation of animals as well as his family, Noah did so (6:22). When God told Noah to enter the ark because the rain was about to begin which would flood the earth, Noah did so (7:5). When God informed Noah that the flood was over and he should leave the ark, Noah did so (8:18).

Sometimes when we face challenges and we feel God is leading us to do something that seems to be a mistake or too great a risk, we resist taking this step. In the short run, we don’t want to be ridiculed or found to have made a big mistake. I think Noah experienced this and so have I. But, in my life I have seen how things often develop over time in ways we never anticipated and then we are finally able to understand why God lead us to make a decision that seemed unwise in the short term. Maybe taking all of those stinking animals into the ark was one of those short term/long term dilemmas!

Because of Noah’s complete trust in God, his relationship with God was one of shalom. There is no record of Noah ever doubting God or raising objections to his commands. Is it any wonder that God chose to establish a special covenant with his righteous man?

Like Noah, when we’re in deep water, it’s best to trust God. Peace with God, as we see in the life of Noah, is built in a foundation of trust.

So What?

• Let’s face the truth – few of us are as trustworthy and obedient as Noah. Some of us with Type A personalities have an especially difficult time with this. I often wonder why God doesn’t listen to me and do things the way I think they should be done – but working in Russia for over 20 years has certainly taught me it’s best to let God be in charge and stop giving him instructions! Do you also struggle with this – trusting God completely?
• I would be thrilled if, at the end of my life, my family and friends could say “He walked with God” (like Noah). It is so hard to put our complete trust in God because so many influences in our culture pressure us to be our own “master” or to be “captains of our own ship.” “You’re in charge” – that’s what we hear. Biblical shalom is so radically counter-cultural. It teaches us to trust God and to be at peace with our Creator.

Peace and Healthy Bones

Biblical shalom involves wholeness, delight, and a sense of meaning and purpose for all of God’s creation. Shalom is the way things are supposed to be! This includes four facets: peace with nature, peace in society, peace with ourselves, and peace with God. This is the third and last in the series on peace with ourselves.
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The Book of Proverbs is a marvelous source for learning wise lessons about how to live life. Periodically I read one chapter of Proverbs a day and, since it has 31 chapters, it neatly fits most months. This book was written to give “knowledge and discretion to the young” and to add to the learning of the “wise.” I will assume the readers of this essay fit one of these two categories.

Proverbs begins with the foundational statement that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7) and its many wise sayings are grounded in that truth. One insight I discovered when reading Proverbs was this: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (14:30, NIV). In this passage, Solomon, son of King David and the author of large portions of Proverbs, points out that fear (reverence or honor) of the Lord and obedience to his commands results in a “heart at peace.” Internal peace brings good health. The opposite is also true, according to Solomon. A heart not at peace because of envy, jealousy or anger, for example, “rots the bones” – a graphic description of a cancerous infection.

The Bible makes a connection between our spiritual condition and our physical condition. Solomon describes the benefits of seeking wisdom, fearing God and avoiding evil in these words: “This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (3:8). He subsequently notes that all of wisdom’s “paths are peace” (3:17).

Peace with ourselves, because of God’s presence and guidance in our lives, is a healthy condition. God’s shalom is life-giving and life-sustaining, because God desires the best for us. This is not to say that believers will never experience serious illness – we certainly have in our family -- but rather to point out the way in which envy, hate or jealousy can literally eat away at us and cause physical deterioration. The connection between the physical and spiritual spheres of our lives is evident here. The fact that God’s peace offers restoration in all areas of our lives, including our physical well-being, should encourage us in our daily journey through life.

So What?

• Have you experienced this reality in your own life where you are so angry with or envious of someone that it actually affects your ability to sleep, to function well or feel healthy? Asking God to relieve you of this anger or jealousy is the best medicine available, according to a very wise man (King Solomon).
• Can you see the beauty of Biblical shalom – how all aspects of life are integrated? Our spiritual condition is linked to our physical condition and peace with ourselves enables us to be at peace with God, with others and with our natural environment? Biblical shalom allows us to be fully human, as God intended us to be!