Jehovah Shalom
So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. Judges 6:24 (nkjv)
The book of Judges describes another dark period in Israel’s history. God’s people were living in rebellion and disobedience and had turned in idolatry to the gods of the lands around them. You see a cycle develop over and over where the people sinned greatly against God, God punished their rebellion, God sent a deliverer, the people repented and they served the Lord . . . only to fall back into sin and start the cycle again.
Gideon was one of the men God chose to deliver His people. What an unlikely choice! Gideon was the Barney Fife of the Old Testament—timid, scared, consumed with doubt, a mouse of a man. In the midst of this chaotic period of history, God revealed Himself to Gideon as Jehovah Shalom, the Lord Is Peace. Gideon was experiencing holy fear at this crisis point in his life and God delivered him from the bondage of his fear by revealing Himself as the Lord Is Peace.
Do you know real peace in your life? The world knows no peace apart from a relationship with Jesus. It is only through an intimate, personal, close walk with the Lord that we can experience His perfect peace. As Christian women, we experience storms all around us every day. There are medical storms, economic storms, physical storms, and emotional storms; however, God’s Word assures us that we can experience God’s peace in the midst of those swirling seas of unrest. Look at His Word:
• “Peace I leave with you” (John 14:27, nkjv).
• “We have peace with God” (Romans 5:1, nkjv).
• “And the peace of God . . .” (Philippians 4:7, nkjv).
• “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15, nkjv).
No matter what storm you face today, remember that Jehovah Shalom offers to breathe peace over every area of your life. Like Gideon, the Lord’s challenge to us today is to share His peace with a world in chaos.
Lord Jesus, I seek Your peace in the midst of a world that knows no peace and contentment. Please speak peace into my life so that I, in turn, can be a channel of Your blessing to a watching and weary world. Amen.
