Lots of ads are promising peace. That’s not what they say, but that’s what they’re subliminally promising the consumer.

• You’ll find “peace” when your hair is straight
• You’ll enjoy “peace” when you sway in that hammock in Aruba
• You’ll secure “peace” when your retirement portfolio has “x” cash value

Peace is a product of contentment. Be picky where you buy it, what you become dependent on to guarantee it.

“You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26:3‬ ‭

The key to the peace of mind that Isaiah guarantees is built on trust in God. That trust, like any other trust in our lives, is built through shared experiences and time. That trust comes through what Paul is writing about in Galatians 5, walking with the Spirit. Only through a consistent walk can we have the product of peace. We will want less of what we see in ads and more of the Creator of all things.

I am finishing a book by Dallas Willard entitled The Allure of Gentleness. He said this about living and acting with God, about walking with the Spirit:

One of the problems as a church is that so many of the wonderful statements in the scriptures that are meant to reflect the honest experiences of those who have learned to live in interaction with God are in fact ritualistically and magically quoted by people who don’t believe a bit of it, because they are scared to death! Nothing has ever happened to them that they are certain is the personal hand of God in their lives. And it drains the life out of those verses.

One passage he references is Psalm 23. If a Christian walks in belief that “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” peace is a normal, everyday product of that belief; God’s hand will be seen and will produce peace. Willard says that Psalm 23 wasn’t written just to recite at funerals. Those 6 verses, when sewn into the fabric of life, dispel fear and produce peace. 

The product we need is God’s presence. Take Psalm 23 with you today. Look for God’s hand. Experience the product of peace.