Swords into Plows
Swords Into Plows
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into p plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:4)
You don’t have to read the paper or look on the Internet very long to know that this promise of Isaiah has not yet been fulfilled. Tensions in the Middle East, Africa, the Ukraine, and many other places remind us several times a day that our world is longing for peace and that it is still far off. The promise of Isaiah 2:4 seems like simply a faintly seen dream, maybe even a teaser, which may never come.
Peace starts in God – nowhere else. We can (and should) work for peace on the world’s terms. But the lasting peace that transforms people so they willingly destroy their weapons and invest them in life giving enterprises (like the plows of Isaiah’s vision), requires a grounding that comes from God.
This means that to be a person of peace starts inside you. Where does your hope and security come from? Do you rely on external protections for your sense of being safe? Or does it come from something that lies within that cannot be taken away from you?
The world’s peace will come as God works in the lives of people. People of peace will live and work for a different kind of peace than the world will. Knowing that God wants swords beaten into plowshares shapes their faith and their lives.
If you want to be a person of peace – the kind of peace that comes from God – then start with your own life and self. When we not only grieve the lack of peace in the world but commit to being a person of peace in our own, then God’s dream will find another seed that sprouts with hope right here where you live.
