The Hebrew word shalom is most often translated into English as “peace.” The Hebrew verb shalam, from which the noun form shalom is derived, means to “restore” in the sense of replacing or providing what is needed in order to make someone or something whole and complete. Peace is not merely the absence of violence. Peace is the feeling that comes when we feel complete and whole, every piece restored to its proper place. So many of us feel lost and confused, like some fundamental part of us is missing. What is missing will be different for each of us. What is missing in our own life may even be different from one day to the next. We may run after all kinds of fads and gurus and drugs and lifehacks and every new, exciting thing, trying to find the exact right piece to fill the emptiness in our souls, but there is nothing that the world can give us that will restore to us our sense of being complete and whole. Only our Savior, the Prince of Peace, has the ability to do this. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” (Psalms 23:1-6). So many of us are so convinced that we just need that one piece to make our lives complete. But the Savior does not have just one thing for us. We are begging for a drop but He wants to make our cup flow over. We are begging to go back to the desert rather than have to go through the valley of the shadow of death, but He wants to have us forget the desert and instead lead us through the valley of the shadow of death so that He can make us to lie down in green pastures. If we allow the Savior to restore our missing peace unto us, to make us whole and complete, then surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life, and afterwards we will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
