Proverbs 16:7 ESV
When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A7&version=ESV]
This proverb is one which the world seems to flat out contradict. We try our best, it seems, and our enemies still persist in being our enemies, still assault us. It doesn’t even seem worth it to try, too often; experience says it’s useless, and we are to tempted to retreat to our natural inclination, half-excused sin and ephemeral niceness. With those who are nice to us, we decide, we can be nice, but virtue is a waste towards the enemy inveterate. Let’s consider this apparent refutation of Scripture, though, remembering that God’s word will ever be a more accurate sight of the world than our own experiences.
In the first place, when we consider our lives, how many of our conflicts are at least a little bit our fault? To what conflicts are we integral, if not instigators? I know that when I think through my life, well, I’m not blameless. I’ve been meaner than I should, less patient than I should, harsher than I should, lazier than I should, and more. Not all the fault lies in me, of course. Others are sinners just as much as me. But I cannot claim that my ways are truly pleasing to the Lord, not fully, for my faith, my hope, my love, they are all imperfect. I do not (cannot) in myself please Him.
Second place, though, comes an acknowledgement of the principle. The truth is that to walk in harmony with the Lord will bring peace in great measure. The simplest illustration of this is the inverse: when we walk in sin, we bring sin and contention. Sin never brings peace; the closest it gets is a unified lie. To have peace in false doctrine or evil-doing, from an enforced Eleventh Commandment or communal guilt, this peace is a false peace, a paper-over of a boiling mass of conflict, conflicts which will carry on by less open means. What remains is not harmony but, “the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts” (Ps. 28:3).
Meanwhile, peace wrought from righteousness is true; it does not merely conceal but heals. The peace of His people starts not at the skin but soul-deep; we have peace with others because we are at peace with Him (Ps. 119:165). By righteousness we find harmony with Him, and in harmony with Him, we find harmony with all who love Him. Peace comes not by painting everything over white but by true consonance of life.
Third place, though, some people will still hate you. A lot of people, actually. The world hates God and hates His people. This cannot be denied. In this life, the righteous man will have many enemies, and those enemies will never willingly allow him peace. The brutal truth is this: the promises of redemption are not fulfilled in full upon this earth. We have a foretaste, a beginning, a firstfruits (Rom. 8:23), but we have not the fullness of His blessings manifested, being still sinners in a sinful world.
Fourth, then, on this earth we must not seek peace with man as our greatest good. To do so is to lay up treasure on earth, in contravention of Christ’s command in Matthew 6:19. No ‘eleventh commandment’ or call of ‘don’t be divisive’ may stand against the duty we have towards peace with God. What is that peace? It is the fruit of His Spirit in us, assuredly (Gal. 5:22), but it is also sanctification worked out and assurance obtained. It is constant love- the fulfilling of the law in life (Gal. 5:13-14)- towards Him and in Him towards that which He loves: righteousness, beauty, and His image in our fellow men.
Fifth and finally, though, we must not stop here with the present and all its flaws. This promise will be fulfilled. “He [shall] put all things under His feet,” declares Ephesians 1:22, and when He has so declared His dominion over all the earth, then shall peace be between the righteous man and all his foes, for all His foes shall be helpless to do that harm which they, unrepentant, still wish. As for those foes who were no true foes, fellow brothers once estranged, then shall peace come to full fruit, and in brotherhood under the Lord (1 Thess. 4:9), peace shall truly flourish.
So before the throne of the Lamb we shall rejoice, and peace shall reign forevermore, amen.
God bless.
Written by Colson Potter
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
