The Peace that Passes Understanding
As a person who struggles with anxiety, peace can feel very elusive. Sometimes life can feel very comfortable, and then all of a sudden something small happens and the world can feel like it’s turning upside down. Feelings come and go and can change on a dime. Even the good times can feel so fragile because our world is so broken and we anticipate something bad happening around the corner. But God offers a different type of peace.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7 ESV
God’s peace is so much greater than any peace the world has to offer. His peace goes beyond circumstances. In fact, His kind of peace is most evident when times are hard because that kind of peace can’t be explained by human reasoning.
This kind of peace blows my mind! I think it’s supposed to. The way I look at peace outside of what God says is a kind of peace that is ultimately rooted in myself and the circumstances. If life is easy, then I have peace. If life is hard, I don’t have peace. That’s how things normally work and it seems only natural. And it is natural for mankind without God. But the peace that God offers is supernatural and therefore we can’t take credit for it.
It doesn’t make sense to see a believer in the hospital who is enduring so much pain and suffering have an attitude of submission to God and of peace despite getting troubling diagnoses and hearing bad news. But God’s peace does that! It takes that person who is at a low point and it gives them a heavenly view of their suffering. Their sickness may not be healed and their pain might not be taken away, but their soul is at rest knowing that God is in control. That is a beautiful testimony to God’s work in their life.
When we pray, we ask God to intervene in a situation and for His will to be done. If His will is for the situation not to improve the way we ask, then we can ask Him for peace to weather the storm. He promises that He will grant His peace! He has promised that He will take care of His children and we can rely on Him to fulfill His promises because His track record of keep His promises is perfect.
I love this Philippians 4 passage because it acknowledges our weaknesses and it calls us to bring them to God. God is calling us to not be anxious, but instead, to bring everything before Him in prayer. It says that we can ask God for what is on our hearts and minds. We can pray for our concerns and the things that rob us of peace. God hears us and invites us into intimate communion with Him. Then He promises that His peace will guard our hearts and minds.
When I think of peace guarding our mind, I think of a fully armed Medieval knight with a shield and a sword and full plate metal at the door of our minds. Worries come and insecurities attack, but the knight fights them all off. God is actively at work protecting us from the attacks of the evil one. He even protects us from our own thoughts and worries that come from our own mind. God is powerful enough to keep us safe and He will. He is strong enough to keep us safe and He cares enough about us to do something about our concerns.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV
God is graciously inviting us into His throne room with our worries and concerns. He calls us to cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us. Cast your cares on Him and wait for His peace that surpasses understanding to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus!
In Him,
Daniel Cable