Longing for Shalom
“‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Number 6:24-26
We all long for it. We desire it so much. Sometimes we even pray for it. We all long for more and more of God’s peace in our lives. Whether it’s in our day to day busyness of school and activities, or it’s our longing for peace in certain relationships, or we pray for peace in the world, it’s a regular desire of all of our hearts: more peace!
God has a similar desire, and Bible scholars are quick to point out an important Hebrew word that comes up many times throughout the Old Testament which shows God’s heart for peace. It’s the word shalom. Shalom represents God’s all-reaching, all-encompassing, all-powerful, mega-peace which He created the whole world and everything in it, to experience. In fact, it’s the way things are supposed to be — which is why we long for peace so much.
Sin, of course, has interrupted our experience of God’s shalom. Our relationship with God, our relationship with others, our relationship with ourselves, and even our relationship with the world has been disrupted by sin. Shalom has been disrupted.
But there are moments where we experience shalom, and the moments make us long for even more of it. I think camp is full of glimpses of shalom. It’s the feeling you have after that conversation with a friend on your shoppe date. Shalom is the thrill of just having finished an EP that your group worked so hard on. Shalom is laying in your bed at night, when it’s quiet, and you’re just thinking about your day and how special it was. Shalom is when you tear up, but like the good kind of tears, and you don’t even know why. That’s a glimpse of Shalom. And what a gift God’s peace is!
There is a famous Hebrew blessing in the Old Testament book of Numbers (you often hear this at the end of church services or even wedding services), where God offers His people His shalom. Next time you desire more of the peace of God in your life, wherever that might be, perhaps you can pray this blessing for more of God’s shalom:
“‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you His Shalom.”’