So the other day my mom was reading her bible and read this verse out loud to me –
If only you had paid attention to my commands,
your peace would have been like a river,
your righteousness like the waves of the sea. – Isaiah 48:18
She read the verse and then commented – “but that makes no sense.” We are all accustomed to the hymns that repeat the image of “peace like a river” but as my mom pointed out rivers are generally not peaceful. You see she is the sort of person whose vacations involve canoeing down the lower canyons of the Rio Grande and shooting the rapids. Rivers are wild unpredictable things – full of uncontrollable power – that are to be respected but not tamed. They are not exactly synonymous with our modern conceptions of peace.
All too often in our world today the term “peace” simply connotes serenity. The whole “peaceful easy feeling” concept conveys a laid back vacationy image. Peace is about not being troubled by anything, letting the world pass you by while you kick-back and relax. Perhaps a hammock, a good book, and a glass of wine are included in that image.
While I have no problem with the hammock/book/wine scenario (can you tell what I’m daydreaming about…), that whole conception of peace is actually a better description of apathy than biblical peace. Serenity and mindless bliss are not exactly the same as Shalom. Peace as seen in the bible often refers to a rightness of relationships – with God and with others. Peace implies the presence of justice, and relationships that are whole. Far from being about personal serenity, it conveys the active bestowing of blessings on others.
So I like the way The Message translated that verse –
“If you had listened all along to what I told you,
your life would have flowed full like a river,
blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.”
Peace is active and ongoing. It is about the abundant life lived to the full in the way of Christ. Peace is like a river – a wild river overflowing its banks. It is about a life that is fully lived in service to others. So of course when one is listening to God’s commands one will have peace – the very nature of following those commands brings about this full and abundant shalom.
So if we want peace like a river we have to be ready for white water rapids.