We all wish that someday wars will cease and we’ll all live in harmony and peace. But unfortunately, we never will until God’s Messiah comes to establish His rule over all the earth.

What is the problem? The problem is within ourselves — within our own hearts and minds. Admittedly, the world has many social and economic problems, and they often lead to conflict and war. But even if we somehow eliminated all of them (which we should try to do), conflicts would still break out — because down inside we’re driven by greed, jealousy and a lust for power. It only takes one tyrant to fan those emotions into flame, sending the world into war and chaos. The Bible says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1).

What is the answer? The answer is to turn to God, and submit our lives to His transforming power. And that can happen, as we open our hearts to Jesus Christ. He can turn our hate into love, and our anger into peace. Has this happened in your life?

Someday, the Bible says, Christ will come again, and then the world will know lasting peace. But in the meantime, no matter what happens around us we can have peace in our hearts, because we know God is with us, and the future is in His hands. As the Bible says, “He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 46:9).