When I think about the story of God’s people, the Israelites, I see example after example of them being surrounded by enemies. Abraham began in the pagan city of Ur. Generations later, his descendants were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. Even the promised land was full of hostile nations that did not honor God.
Eventually, the temple they built in the promised land was ransacked, and the kingdom of Judah was exiled first to Babylon and then to Persia. And even after returning home, they found themselves once again under foreign control, first the Greeks and then the Romans.
As you can imagine, the final line of Psalm 120, “I search for peace; but when I speak of peace, they want war!” was deeply personal for the Jewish nation.
How often do we feel this too?
We live in a fallen world, where spiritual and cultural forces work hard to keep us surrounded by conflict instead of peace.
But just as He did for His people in the past, God intervenes. He is the one who brings peace, even when war rages around us. And while His peace might not always look the way we expected, it is always real—and always good.
When I’ve found myself in chaotic circumstances—when it feels like I’m surrounded by tension or opposition—the stories of the Old Testament ground me. They remind me who God is. Seeing His goodness woven through the lives of His people reassures me that He is still the same today.
Those who belong to Jesus have been invited into this same spiritual family. And His faithfulness is bigger, deeper, and stronger than anything we could ever imagine.