We see it on the tombstones in old western B-films and occasionally on gravestone in cemeteries: What does “R.I.P” stand for? It stands for “rest in peace” and comes from a decidedly Christian worldview. Numerous Bible passages speak of the peace which God gives to his children.

 
“Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death” (Isaiah 57:2).
 
Believers do not have to wait to “be called home” to have God’s peace. Psalm 29:11 affirms, “The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.” Peace is ours now, in the present.
 
When there is peace between God and his children, when we know the forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of the Savior, then there is peace. When we overcome sin in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us, then there is peace.
 
Isaiah 26:3 encourages and comforts us with these words: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” A key to having this peace is not avoiding strife or suffering or troubles; it is simply trusting in the Lord, trusting that he will provide, protect, guide and lead. It really is a matter trusting the One who has made promises to his children and abiding in him.
 
Philippians 4:9 ties trusting God to our heart’s desire to live in the peace of God: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the peace of God will be with you.” The progression is simple: he loves and saves us, in gratitude we love him and desire to obey him, and all of this is enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
The world offers a peace, but it is a false peace. It asserts that if we abide by a certain set of rules, or live in a certain way (usually determined by men and not by God), then we will have “peace.” To the world, the absence of war, strife, suffering, or conflict is equal to “peace.” It is unaware of Jesus’ comment, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). The peace that Jesus brings is peace with God in the inner man. The sword he spoke of is what the world gets the its lies collides with God’s truth.
 
As his children, we seek after the “peace that passes all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). The person of God, the believer, “must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it” (I Peter 3:11). That is our calling – to zealously chase after the peace that God provides to us who love him and obey his commands.
 
The godly pursuit of God’s peace in our lives, exemplified by joyful and willing obedience, will be blessed as we pursue this peace. It is all grounded in Jesus, “For he himself is our peace…” (Eph. 2:14). May this peace of Christ rule in our hearts (Col. 3:15).
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Rev. Thomas Joseph is pastor of Lake Crest Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Ala.