“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.” (Matthew 24:6-7)

From the beginning of time, humanity has searched for peace. We have joined peace movements, marched for peace, given prizes for peace, even gone to war for peace. And when we hear that people have been arrested for disturbing the peace, we wonder where they actually found any to disturb! Some people tell us via their bumper stickers to “Visualize world peace.” Then they cut us off on the freeway.

Displayed above the doors of the United Nations are the words of Isaiah 2:4: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” We are a people who want peace. But we need to know this: neither the United Nations nor politicians nor people who visualize it will bring about the long-awaited peace on Earth that humankind so desperately longs for. The peace that we long for will only happen when the Creator Himself returns, repossesses what is rightfully His, and hangs a sign over this war-weary planet that says, “Under New Management.”

It would be nice to think that with all of our sophistication and technology, we could somehow bring about global peace. But according to Jesus, in the last days we “will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass….” (Matthew 24:6). Tragically, war will be a part of the future of humanity until Christ Himself comes and establishes His kingdom.

Until that day…until the Prince of Peace returns to take charge of a troubled world, we can still find peace of heart and mind, peace that surpasses all understanding, as we rest in Him.