Have you ever met someone who just can’t let it go? I’ll bet they have nothing on Hiroo Onoda! Onoda was a Japanese soldier during World War II. In 1944, he was sent to the Philippines and ordered to fight until the very end. As a faithful soldier, he did exactly that. He fought until the bitter end – and then just a little bit further. Onoda continued to fight until he walked out of the mountains in 1975. No, that’s not a typo. No, your knowledge of history isn’t fuzzier than you thought. Hiroo Onoda didn’t know that Japan had surrendered and peace was declared. Thus, he kept fighting World War II, even thirty years after the war was over.
That seems a bit crazy, doesn’t it? Who keeps fighting a war that long after peace has been declared? Well, I do. And I’ll bet you do too. The Apostle Paul closes out his letter to the Philippian church with a reminder that they have peace with God. He writes in 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
When we talk about feeling peace, we often think of a warm, relaxing feeling. Paul, however, describes it as a reality. We have peace with God, a peace that surpasses all understanding. The war is over. Though our sins made us enemies of God, our Father has made peace with us through the death of his Son. That means we can come to God with our prayers without any anxiety. God is for us, not against us.
How would it change your life to be reminded that you are at peace with God? I don’t know about you, but I’ve had one of those weeks. It’s one of those weeks where things just refuse to go smoothly. On weeks like this, it’s tempting to think that God is harboring a grudge. It’s all too easy to believe that God has it out for me. But the gospel tells me I have peace with God. The war is over and he’s no longer my enemy. Now God is for me, not against me.
If we’ve been found in Christ, our sufferings aren’t an artillery barrage from on high. Whether they’re light and momentary or heavy and persistent, the hardships we face aren’t enemy action seeking to hunt us down. Church, we’ll never have a heart of peace apart from that knowledge. As long as I think God is against me, I’ll always sleep with one eye open, just waiting for lightning to strike. But if I know I’m at peace with God, I can rest easy no matter what my circumstances. God is for me, not against me. That commitment means that a heart of peace is a heart of endurance. We can endure all things because we’re at peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Friend, do you know the war is over?