A Promise of Peace

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

We live in a broken and bitter world, but ever since the fall of mankind, God has been pursuing us. So often we wonder why our circumstances are not more ideal. Perhaps you ask why God would allow you to go through the season you’re in or why treacherous seasons will inevitably come for even the most devout Christian.
           
We often forget that this is not heaven.
           
Our circumstances will never be perfect here on earth because we walk on cursed ground. We will of course have joyful moments and seasons where we’re on mountain tops, but tragedies and hardships come to everyone on this side of heaven. No family is without tears, and no individual is without pain in life.
           
Even so, we do not serve a God who does not understand our pain. It would be easy to say that God, who’s in heaven, can’t possibly know the suffering that we tiny humans go through. He can’t possibly understand our struggles since He gets to sit in a castle in the sky all day. That’s the image we might have of Him, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
           
In our previous devotion, we discussed how God not only sent His Son to die for us, but God the Father came for us. The Word became flesh. The Son, who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), left His throne and became one of us.
           
Hebrews says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin” (4:15). We cannot say that God does not understand, because the Son and the Father are one; therefore, God the Father knows our struggles and fully understands our pain.
           
God planned the story of redemption, knowing that we would need a Savior to come and pay the penalty for sin. He told Satan that he would lose, and He foretold the victory of Jesus right after the failure of mankind. Why? Because God is always focused on the redemption rather than the mess. He’s always ready to provide peace in times of trouble and show love to humanity even when we least deserve it. God has always pursued us.
           
So, as we travel on this road that’s often a beaten path, let’s remember that the enemy was told from the start that he would never prevail. Remember that our story is not over yet. We might not have peaceful times on earth, but there will be peace on earth when the Prince of Peace returns, and there is peace readily available for us through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.