Peace of God

"...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."

Often times, when these verses are discussed, many feel as if God has given them a command that cannot be followed. Who can remain at peace when the world’s economy has come to a halt, people we know are seriously ill, and many are afraid to even go outside?  Everyday we see the world death count increase by the thousands.

So, what is this Peace of God, and how do we cultivate it?  You have the Peace of God when you have confidence and trust in God’s wise and good control of your life. When you don’t, you normally experience worry and anxiety. So in a nutshell, we either believe God is in control of our life, or we don’t.  Throughout God’s word He warned us that the walk of faith will be hard, and we will be tested and tried.

Phil 4:6-7 instructs us to go to God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, then we will demonstrate an understanding that is beyond human intellect. We pray with thanksgiving, even though we don’t know how God plans on answering our prayer.  He may give us what we ask, He may say no, or He may respond with another plan or a different timeline. In any event, God is doing what is best for us, as he states in Romans 8:28, so the correct response is gratitude in advance.

As we face the trials of life, we can do one of two things.  We can either listen to our heart or talk to our heart.  Our heart is the source of our habits of thought and our attitudes.  Most have been trained to first consider the negative possible outcomes, so if we listen to our heart, the usual result is fear, doubt or worry.  If we talk to our heart with God’s words of assurance, we can replace anxiety with Peace.

Read what King David did in Psalm 42:11 when he was depressed.  He said, “ Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God; the help,of my countenance and my God.” David spoke to his heart.

We must trust in our assurance of salvation, and recount the benefits of God as found in Psalm 103.  Stay tuned tomorrow when we talk about the prerequisite for the Peace of God.