Day 5, Love that gives peace

    “Shalom, shalom” were the words my old supervisor used when she ended text messages, emails and our classes. It is a term seen throughout the Bible, and it is something God says we are to have and to give. In its most basic sense the word shalom means peace. It is much deeper, however than to just have peace. Shalom means completeness, safety in our entire being, and to give from a place of wholeness. Shalom means having peace and repaying that peace back into your surroundings. 
      Shalom literally says, “May you be full of well-being” or, “may health and prosperity be upon you.”1 “Peace” for me means giving over my own wants and desires to God. Praying and allowing myself to completely say “yes” to God’s will, even if it meant my wants would never come to pass. When I surrender, I begin to experience a peace that I don't have words to describe. Jesus describes a Shalom that he gives us. 

“Shalom I leave with you. My shalom I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.”(John 14:27 HVN Bible) 

    When Jesus is saying those words he is talking to the disciples and telling them to trust in God’s plan. Have peace. You may not be able to see it yet, but God is up to something. How difficult it is to trust in the unseen! Yet God’s promises will always be fulfilled. So what are we to do with shalom that God gives us?

“Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the LORD for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.” ( Jeremiah 29:7 NET Bible) 

    We are to try and bring peace into every place we go. Jeremiah talks about bringing peace even in exile. Perhaps it is our job to bring peace even in situations we resent. We are to bring peace to places we don't want to be. 

Devotional Questions 
    •    What does “shalom” look like for you? 
    •    What situations or people do you find it hard to say, “may health and prosperity be upon you?”
    •    How does our frustration with our environment reveal what are looking for in our work, family, relationships, or career that only God can provide to us? 
    •    Begin a prayer today that requests that God would give you His shalom. 


1. Hershey, Doug. “THE TRUE MEANING OF SHALOM.” FIRM. firm.org. Accessed August 24, 2019. https://firm.org.il/learn/the-meaning-of-shalom/.)