Alive - by Dave Smith

estselling books focusing on various approaches to wellbeing and
wellness. The problem is that there is so much material that it can be
difficult to decide which sources are the most helpful and trustworthy.
Given what we’ve already seen in the previous chapter, it’s clear
that there is one go-to source that gives the best, most
comprehensive overview of all areas of our wellbeing: the Bible. For
example, the Hebrew word shalom, normally translated as ‘peace’,
carries the idea of ‘wellbeing in every area of life’, and appears more
than 250 times in the Old Testament. Its Greek equivalent word,
eirene, which is also usually translated as ‘peace’, appears in the
New Testament more than 90 times. 6
Significantly, three of these instances of eirene occur in just seven
verses of John’s Gospel (20:19–26). Before we look at the specifics,
it is important that we look briefly at the wider story of God’s plan for
our lives and how it fulfils our need for true peace. This will help,
whether you’re someone just checking Christianity out, or whether
you’ve been on a journey with Jesus for a long time.
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU TO
ENJOY PEACE
As I outlined in God’s Plan for Your Wellbeing, the Bible presents
different stages in God’s plan for, and active involvement in, our
peace and wellbeing, represented in the following diagram.