Missing Peace
September 8, 2024
Philippians 4:4-7
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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The peace of God that surpasses all understanding is the ultimate sense of completeness. Each piece of life fits into place. What was once a jumbled mess forms a whole, bringing order into the chaos of our lives. There is a sense of rest rather than anxiety. We find ourselves thankful and rejoicing.
Many things can rob us of the peace we are offered in Jesus Christ. Because we think we need to rush, we fail to take the time to pray. Our insatiable hunger for more keeps us from finding peace with what we have. When things don’t turn out the way we want, we question God's nearness. Because we pursue our own will rather than seeking God’s, we do not achieve either.
Like the old Footprints in the Sand poem - Our own urgency often keeps us from seeing what God has already done and is doing, especially when we think we’re all alone.
Over the last couple of weeks, we've been studying this passage from Philippians from many angles: rejoicing in the Lord, gentleness, the nearness of the Lord, not worrying, praying, and thanksgiving.
- Gentleness is living among others in the same patient, loving manner as God loves us.
- The nearness of the Lord is the awareness that we are not forgotten and that even when things feel dark and lonely, God is with us.
- Not worrying about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, letting our requests be made known to God is to trust in God rather than ourselves. To rely on God’s ability rather than our own.
- Thanksgiving is mindfulness of what God has done in the past, is doing in the present, and is yet to do in the future.
- Rejoicing in the Lord is to celebrate his awesome presence and faithful love, rejoicing in the same things in which the Lord rejoices.,
This is the path to the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, a peace guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
