How Can You Find True Peace?

Dannah Gresh: Jennifer was in need of healing. She was depressed, in despair, because of a violent crime committed against her.

Jennifer Smith: I didn't see a future anymore. I had all these questions about God. I actually was delusional in some of my beliefs. I didn’t believe He was good anymore. I wondered where He was. I didn’t hear Him anymore. I wondered where He was that night. I wondered where He was in the darkness, and I couldn’t see. All I could hear was chaos. And so I just wanted that to end.

Dannah: Today we’ll hear how God ministered peace and healing to Jennifer’s soul.

This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of The Wonder of His Name, for December 12, 2024. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Peace. People sing about it, write about it, and hand out awards for it. But it seems like we can never achieve it. Or can we?

Later today we'll hear the story of Jennifer—a woman who discovered the source of true peace. You'll hear how God’s Word ministered healing to her when she thought all hope was lost.

But first, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is telling us about the source of true peace. She’s continuing in the series “His Name Is Wonderful.”

Nancy: You look back through history and it seems like people are always looking for a ruler who will bring peace, who will bring peace to the world. We've been looking at the text in Isaiah 9:6 where more than 700 years before His birth, God announced four names that His Son would be called.

His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and then the name we are looking at today, the “Prince of Peace.”

As I was studying for this session I read a sermon written in 1973 on Christ, the Prince of Peace. That pastor said at that time people were thinking of Henry Kissinger might bring in world peace. Well, I think we've since given up that Henry Kissinger is going to bring world peace.

But people keep trying. In 1997 the CNN founder, Ted Turner announced his intention to give one billion dollars to promote world peace to the United Nations. Then in March of 2004, Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his wife were crowned the king and queen of peace in the Dirksen Senate office building in Washington, D.C. There were at least a dozen members of Congress there, religious leaders from major denominations, U.S. Ambassadors and other distinguished guests gathered to honor Reverend Moon, the new King of Peace—so-called, self-proclaimed.

Well, I'm here to tell you that Henry Kissinger is not going to bring in world peace, and Ted Turner can't buy world peace, no matter how much money he gives to the United Nations, and for sure, the Reverand Moon is not the King of Peace.

There is one Prince of Peace, His name is Jesus. He is the Messiah, and we read about him in Isaiah chapter 9: "His name will be called . . . the Prince of Peace." That's the Hebrew term Sar Shalom—the governor or ruler of peace

In fact, this name, Prince of Peace found in Isaiah 9, is the first reference to peace in the book of Isaiah. But Isaiah has scattered throughout the book twenty-five references to peace, of which this is the first. In fact, in the next verse, Isaiah 9:7, we read, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” You know why there will be peace? Because Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace, shall reign and rule.

Now, you’ve heard the term Shalom—peace, wellbeing. It implies several things. First of all, it’s a sense of personal wellbeing. It talks about our sin-sick hearts and souls being restored to health. Shalom, having personal peace. And then, Shalom speaks of a right restored relationship that we could have with God—sinners being reconciled to a holy God, Shalom.

Then, Shalom also refers to the restoration of relationships between individuals. Once we’re right with God, we can be right with each other. And then this word, Shalom, is used in another sense to speak of righteousness and prosperity prevailing throughout the whole world. Stop and think about that for a moment, what that will be like some day. It describes a condition of tranquility that will one day be on this planet.

This term, Shalom, looks forward to the millennial reign and rule of Christ when there will be peace on earth. Yet we need to remember that there will never be peace on this earth until Christ is enthroned as King. And then as King, Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace, He will bestow peace on this earth.

Now, Isaiah spoke and ministered to the people of Judah at a time when they didn’t experience much peace. The King of Syria and the King of Israel had joined forces to fight against Jerusalem. This was a time of bloodshed, conflict, and warfare. But Isaiah said there’s coming a Messiah who will be the Prince of Peace. That gave these Israelites something to look forward to. That gave these Jews in Isaiah’s time something to look forward to—the coming of the Prince of Peace. Well, the good news of the gospel is that Messiah Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He brings Shalom into a broken world.

Over and over again you see this concept. Zechariah in the New Testament, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied that Messiah would come. He would come to “give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). That’s why Christ came to earth. When the angels proclaimed in the starry sky that night Jesus was born, they proclaimed the good news. What did they say?

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom God’s favor rests” (Luke 2:14 NIV). That’s the message of the gospel—the Prince of Peace has come.

Then as the Lord Jesus was spending His last moments with His disciples, as He prepared to go to the cross and then knew that He would be rising from the dead and going back to heaven, He told His disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27). This is the Prince of Peace speaking.

He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation." Is that true? Of course it is true! In this world you will have tribulation. But he said, "Take heart, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). So in Christ, the Prince of Peace, we can have peace even in this tumultuous world.

Now, by the time that Christ was born, the Jews who had heard and read and quoted these prophesies for hundreds of years about the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, they had come to expect a Messiah who would bring peace with human weapons and armies—a great warrior king who would defeat and destroy the Romans who occupied Palestine. That’s what they were looking for.

That’s why they didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah when He came because He didn’t come with pomp and circumstance as a human king might have. That wasn’t God’s plan. In fact, Isaiah tells us in chapter 53 how the Messiah would establish peace.

He was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities.
[The punishment] that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by his wounds, we are healed. (v. 5)

You see, the Prince of Peace had to suffer; He had to die; He had to lay down His life so that we could have peace by being forgiven of our sins. Messiah, the Prince of Peace, brought peace to this world by being pierced, crushed, and wounded.

Don’t forget that at Christmas it all points and leads to the cross. At the cross the Lord Jesus made it possible for sinners who were at war with God and estranged from Him to be reconciled, to be brought near to God. He made it possible for people who are estranged from each other to be brought together.

Through His death He has broken down every barrier, every wall, Ephesians 2 tells us. Every barrier between us and God, every barrier between you and your mate, between you and your children; only through Christ, the Prince of Peace, can these barriers be torn down.

In our world and in our relationships we often have conflict, we have alienation, we have war, we have divorce, we have broken relationships. They are all ultimately the result of sin and selfishness and pride. At the cross the Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace took our place. He was broken for us. He was separated from God because of our sins so that we might be declared righteous before God's sight and might be restored to a right relationship with Him and with each other.

Do you have some strained, broken relationships? Maybe they are getting heightened at this Christmastime because you are getting ready to see family and there is this strain, this tension, this conflict between you. Maybe you have some relationships that are in need of peace.

I want to tell you that only as individual parties surrendered to Christ as the Prince of Peace can those walls come down. As you go to visit families, as you spend time with loved . . . and some you should love but you really don't and you have a hard time being with over Christmas, ask the Prince of Peace to reign in your heart to be a peacemaker.

Maybe you need peace. Maybe your heart is in turmoil and you are anxious and restless over some circumstance in you life. I can tell you this: peace doesn't come from your mate changing. It doesn't come from even having a mate. Peace is not a result of getting more possessions that you are going to accumulate over the Christmas holidays. We all know that. Peace is not going to be brought about by governments or peace treaties, well-meaning as they may be. Peace for your heart is not going to be found in a bottle or a pill or a self-help program. That's not where you get peace. Christ is the only one who can give you deep, inner peace. It's the peace of God, the peace that passes all understanding. 

 

Now the verse that we've been looking at, Isaiah 9:6, says that the government will be on His shoulders. Now, that's a picture of Christ wearing that kingly robe. The picture is that Christ is responsible to govern the nation of Israel, and one day to govern the world. 

I want to say to you today that if His shoulders are large enough to carry the burden and responsibility of the world, don't you think that His shoulders are big enough to carry you and your problems? Whatever they may be, no matter how huge they may seem, His shoulders are bigger.

We talked yesterday with a woman who is carrying a child who has now been diagnosed with a chromosomal disorder. This woman knows that when this child is born a few months from now that the child is likely to have severe mental or physical birth defects. It was an incredible thing to look into that woman’s face to see in her eyes and her countenance the peace of God reigning and ruling. Why? Not because she knows the outcome for that child, but because she knows the Prince of Peace.

Whether it is personal peace, relational peace, world peace; you can never have true peace apart from knowing and being ruled by the Prince of Peace, Sar Shalom, the Baby that was born in Bethelem's manger. Let Him be your Prince.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.” He is a wonder of a counselor.

“His name shall be called Mighty God,” El-Gibbor, our powerful champion. His name shall be called Father of Eternity, everlastingly our Father. And His name shall be called Sar Shalom—the Prince, the King, the Governor, the ruler of peace.

Dannah: That’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, wrapping up a teaching series called, "His Name Is Wonderful." If you missed any of it, you can hear the audio, read the transcript, or find it on the Revive Our Hearts app. 

Now, I’ve mentioned this a little in recent days. Nancy’s working on recording a year-long teaching series that will walk viewers and listeners through the story of the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. You’ll be hearing more about that series over the next few years. It’s called “Wonder of the Word.”

Here are Nancy and her husband, Robert, to introduce Jennifer Smith at a gathering of Revive Our Hearts supporters. Jennifer wasn’t able to be there, so she recorded her testimony ahead of time. As you’ll hear, she discovered the kind of true peace we’ve just been hearing about.

Nancy: She has been sitting in on the Wonder the Word teaching sessions. I can't see her. She's in the next room, but she's watching on a screen as Robert and a handful of others are. She's taking it in, and she's reading ahead the Scripture I'm getting ready to teach in the weeks leading up to it. She says God has been doing an amazing work in her life. I'll let her share it.

The reason it is significant is we're watching the power of the Word to heal and to restore and to revive and to renew. Because I've kind of been wondering at times as I'm teaching this, it's a different kind of teaching than I've ever done before. I'm going, Is anybody going to like . . . is this really going to help anybody? And my low points, that's kind of what I mean. I want to know if this really is going to impact their lives? I asked you that question on the phone one day, Laura [Gonzalez]. I said, "Do you think this is really going to minister to people?" And Jennifer is an example of what God is doing right now through that teaching that really won't go out for another couple years.

Jennifer Smith: So greetings. My name is Jennifer, and I wanted to take just a few minutes to share with you what the Wonder of the Word has been doing in my life. But before I do that, I have to do as Nancy says, "Give you a short helicopter ride" of the past two-and-a-half years of my life so that you might understand a little bit of what the Lord is doing.

So two years ago at this time, I found myself in full-time ministry. I'd been in full-time ministry. I've been around Revive Our Hearts for years. From the beginning, I used to listen to it in my prison cell, the podcast. The curriculums have shaped me in my walk, the True Woman conferences, the True Woman 101 and 201, Choosing Forgiveness, Seeking Him . . . I could go on and on and on of the resources that have been used by God to change my life and change so many other lives.

But I want to talk about the most important resource, and that's the Word of God. You don't really know how important that is until that's all that you have left to stand on, His Word. Two-and-a-half years ago I found myself in some really dark days. I had gone from full-time ministry and was in the midst of ministry, and my life changed one day on May 21 of 2022.

Some dark days followed that. The change was that I had been sexually assaulted, and that opened a lot of doors from my past. I would spend the next month and a half going down in a very, very dark pit . . . so dark that I didn't even want to live anymore. I didn't have the strength to. And everything was quiet—God was quiet. But there was a lot of chaos up here [her head] that I couldn't get to stop. And my only way out at the time, I thought, was to end my life.

Fast forward this helicopter ride, maybe three weeks later, I had a full mental breakdown. I found myself again in some really dark spots. I knew I could reach out to two families in my life that were safe for me, and they lived not in Arkansas, but Michigan. So I came up here. I found myself coming up here for about three weeks to just take some time to relax and heal and just hear from the Lord.

During that time, I was given a book called Heaven Rules. That was placed in my hands, and I read that in like five days. Then I think the sixth day, I went out and got a tattoo that said, "Heaven Rules." So not that I'm advocating tattoos, but there's a story behind that too. But I knew that I needed to have that phrase on repeat in my mind. I knew what I was walking through, what I just came out of, but I didn't know where I was headed. I didn't see a future anymore. I had all these questions about God. I actually was delusional in some of my beliefs. I didn't believe He was good anymore. I wondered where He was. I didn't hear Him anymore, wondering where He was that night. I wondered where He was in the darkness. I couldn't see, and all I could hear was chaos, and so I just wanted that to end.

I would struggle with these thoughts. I was plagued for probably about six more months, just wanting to end things. In April of 2023 I found myself coming to Michigan with a pop-up camper and my fur babies seeking healing, seeking what was next. I didn't know if I would be able to function in a job, but I knew I needed to get away, and I needed to heal. That was the next thing. And so as I was in the woods of Michigan, the Lord began to just slowly minister to me through the Word and through Nancy, as she was sending me texts. It was small little bites that I could handle at the time, which goes back to my tattoo—Heaven Rules.

I knew it was a truth I needed to remind myself. And so the reason that I put that there, and the reason that I got this other one that says, "Hold Fast," and it's a sunflower and it has Jude 20 on it, is because I need to be reminded. Reminded first of all that when things seemed unfair, when things seemed dark, and when things seemed quiet, that Heaven Rules. And as long as I kept following Him and holding fast, that I was His beloved. Those were three, four, or five truths that I needed to be reminded of hourly and daily, sometimes.

In January of 2024 I had the opportunity to go to the first recording in "studio N," which would be the beginning of the recordings of The Wonder of the Word. Also, I had been going through the Bible. As Nancy was studying it, I was studying alongside with her too. Then I would go to the recordings and hear it all put together. The Lord started using the Word to heal. That's what He says He does in Psalms, that He would send that out and He would heal.

So I noticed that I began to find freedom again in some areas of my life. That's just what the ministry of Revive Our Hearts is called to do—calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in their life. Here I was still struggling mentally, still struggling in a lot of different areas, but I had the opportunity to sit in on all these sessions and go through the Word with Nancy. I have hope again, because of the wonder of the Word, because I've seen the freedom that it's bringing into my life, that I'm going to live a full and fruitful life again.

I've been able to hold a job down now for the last fourteen months, which has been a miracle—learning how to be kind, even in those work situations sometimes that aren't ideal. But also giving me the time I need just to be still and just to do what Psalms 37 says to do—do good and just to dwell in the land and feed on the faithfulness of God.

That's kind of what the eighteen last months of my life has looked like. I go to work, and I'm in the Word, and I get to worship. I've learned a gift of lamentation to go with that, which has increased my worship. But if I can encourage you with anything, of all the things that you've invested in as a partner, all the resources that you could mention, I could mention . . . Many of you may be in that place of suffering that's produced hopelessness for whatever reason. But if I can encourage you to get behind the Wonder of the Word project, more than any other project that you've gotten behind with Revive Our Hearts, I would encourage that, because it's the Word of God that changes.

It's the Word of God that can do something else that no other curriculum can do, no other person's words can do. It's His Word that heals, and it's His Words that set free. And in that, again you can find a full and fruitful life again. You can have hope that the darkness didn't win. And you can look back and you see glimpses of grace. You can see and trace His hand, even in the darkness. That, to me, is the wonder of the whole Word of God, that it can do those things, that it can bring in life where there was death, it can bring in hope where there wasn't any.

And so, just in a nutshell there, a little helicopter ride, the Wonder of the Word is reviving my heart. It's healing my heart, and it's given me a heart like Jesus, to even be kind to my enemies, and to be kind to those that have hurt and abused me in the past. In my own strength, I don't have that heart. In my own strength, I want revenge. In my own strength, I want to just stay in that little dark hole and not trust people any more and let the fear take over. But the Word heals, and it gives us all that we need in each moment and each day, to be able to continue to go forward, to hold fast, and to realize that heaven really does rule in the hard things and the good things and in the things that we don't understand.

Nancy: I’m so grateful for what God has been doing in Jennifer’s life, and that Revive Our Hearts has been able to be part of it that story. I love seeing illustrated how God’s Word is powerful to heal. Jennifer alluded to this passage from Psalm 107. It’s talking about a group of people who were afflicted, suffering, and “near the gates of death.”

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
he saved them from their distress.
He sent his word and healed them. (vv. 19–20 CSB)

The healing power of God’s Word is something we are seeing day in and day out, through our various outreaches. 

Revive Our Hearts is asking the Lord for many, many more stories in days to come—stories like Jennifer’s. So many women feel like they’re trapped in a dark pit. They’re in desperate need of the healing touch of Scripture. You can be part of the story God wants to write in their lives. Here's how: when you support Revive Our Hearts, you’re helping us point women to the truth and healing power of God’s Word. 

As we've been sharing with you, usually about 40 percent of all donations for the entire year are given during the month of December. So each December we ask the Lord to provide what He knows we need for us to be able to continue ministry in the year ahead. 

That’s where we are right now, and that's why we really need to hear from you during these weeks. Your gift at this time will make a big difference in the extent of ministry we can take on during 2025. Some friends of the ministry know how important it is to hear from our listeners in December, so they’re matching each gift, up to our challenge amount of two million dollars.

I’m thankful for each person who has contributed to that challenge thus far, but we need many more to help us to not only meet that goal but even to surpass it. If you've not made a gift to help with our year-end needs, would you ask the Lord if He would have you be a part of helping Revive Our Hearts during this important time? You can make a donation by calling us at 1-800-569-5959, or if you prefer to make a donation online, you can visit us at ReviveOurHearts.com. 

Thank you so much for prayerfully considering having a part in this ministry at this crucial time as the Lord continues to send out His Word and heal the hearts of His people.

Dannah: Thanks, Nancy.

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This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

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