THE MISSING PEACE Unlock and Sustain Peace in Your Daily LifeSample

Day 2:

P-HILIPPIANS

PRAYER & THANKSGIVING

“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 4:6-7

As you know, reading, remembering, and reciting scripture isn’t always a magic bullet in every moment of anxiety, torment, or pain we experience. It doesn’t always immediately wash away our emotional disruption or depression as if we had waved a magic wand. Although it’s rarely meant to be a genie in a bottle, the more we immerse ourselves in the scriptures and the ways of the Lord, the more we are permanently entrenched in a state of being that includes peace, rest, and spiritual comfort. We were never promised a life without pain, adversity, and disappointment. There are no guarantees that life will be without struggle. God promises that all things, even tragedy and trauma, work together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). The most important part of today’s passage is “let your requests be made known to God”. That, alone, peacefully comforts me to know He cares and is listening.

The verse for today commands us to ‘be anxious for nothing’. Many of us have read this and sarcastically thought ‘ok, sure, I will just NOT be anxious. If it were that easy, I would never feel anxious.’ Thankfully, the apostle Paul doesn’t leave us there. He offers a remedy for the anxiety and stress. ‘In everything by prayer with thanksgiving (paraphrasing), give our requests to God’. Then watch what happens. The PEACE of God, which we don’t understand, will guard our hearts and minds’. Anxiety and depression are epidemics in western culture that have become more medicated than most viruses and infections. The world is starving for peace. We live in a fallen world full of brokenness and depravity and we may never fully reach 24/7 peace this side of heaven. However, God knew this would be our biggest struggle and sent the Holy Spirit as a helper.

When reading this passage in Philippians, it helps to know we are not alone and seeking peace amidst anxiety is not a new concept. Seeking, procuring, and cultivating peace was as much a priority thousands of years ago as it is today. The same antidote that offered relief then, offers the same relief today. Prayer, supplication, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving to name a few. Comfort in Christ, that we receive by boldly approaching the throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16), and laying down our burdens at the foot of the cross sets the table for receiving the peace that surpasses all understanding.