Peace of God
Notes
Transcript
If we look around us, we see a picture of turmoil in this world. Fighting among Ukraine and Russia, the Swiss glacier destroying a town, elections where democracy is being tested, many things are going on around the world. Even in the United States, we see hurricanes, tornados, severe storms, a political power struggle, good being called bad and bad being forced to be called good. There are many things that cause us worry on a global and domestic scale. But how many of those things are we closely associated with? Not many, but they still impact our lives.
John Hopkins Medicine tells us that things such as global and climate change, the struggle with independence and individuality, fitting in around other people, electronic device screen time, even the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic still impacts our anxiety today. But why? Why is it that we have so much anxiety when we truly seek peace? A better way to ask this may be “How many of us have true peace in our lives”?
Could it be that we are looking in the wrong place for our peace? Could it be that we have lost our identity? Could it be that we have no identity in Christ, and the world’s turmoil cause us worry because we don’t know who holds our tomorrow?
Our primary identity can be found in Christ. If we run to our parents or our friends when we have issues, then how much more important SHOULD it be to run to our Father when issues arise in our lives? Too often, we run to the doctors and then run to the pharmacy when we should be running to the altar and falling on our knees.
I have often wondered what would have happened if someone had run to Paul and asked him about the things that caused them to worry. Paul would say, just don’t do that - don’t worry about anything. Now, how easy is that? How easy is it for us to not worry about anything in our lives? Not easy at all, but he does go on to mention the way we do that, the way the HE did that - we place our worries and anxieties - our “cares” - upon God and leave them there and HE will give us the true peace we desire. So how is it we place our worries and anxiety on God? Through prayer. We speak to God, just as we would our best friend - because He is.
Joby Martin pastor in Jacksonville Fl said one of the first pastors he served under out of seminary used to say “If you pray, then why worry. If you are going to worry, then why pray?” Let the worry be a trigger to bring that issue to God, have that conversation with Him, lay the worry on His shoulders, and then walk away from the worry with peace.
Philippians is a book of joy, written by Paul from prison. Circumstances should have kept him from being happy and having peace. We have to remember, Paul has been placed under house arrest for preaching the Gospel. He was arrested for telling others about God! He also knew that his arrest could very well lead to his execution, so he wrote to the churches at Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae. He writes four letters of encouragement and correction when he COULD have been losing his mind. Instead, he left his concerns, his worries, his anxieties, and he traded them in to God for peace. How many of us would like to have that kind of peace today? Peace that gives us the ability to face anything and not have any worries? Yeah, me too. So, let’s look at how Paul says we should do that.
Peace Comes From Rejoicing
Peace Comes From Rejoicing
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
What is the thought around rejoicing? Rejoicing is also called having joy and joy is closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice. Notice closely what I just said - joy is more than just and emotion, it is a STATE OF BEING. Joy becomes who we are, it is a trait, or a quality and REJOICING is the way is exudes from us. In Galatians 5, Joy is defined as being one of the fruits of the spirit. The fruits of the spirit serve as markers of a Christian's spiritual growth and alignment with God's will. So, having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian and becomes a part of who we are.
Rejoicing in the Lord is a way we guard ourselves against the attacks of the world. A person who is constantly rejoicing in the Lord has their eyes on God and stays on the path God wants them to be on. One who forgets their joy, who takes their eyes off God and onto the world, runs the risk of drifting away from God.
One of the best examples of this when Jesus walks on the water after His time of prayer to meet up with His disciples as they traveled across the Sea of Galilee. But
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”
Take close notice of what happens when Peter takes his eyes off Jesus - his hope, his joy, his peace leaves and he begins to sink. Now listen closely - Peter was an apostle, close to Jesus, he even had an invitation to come to Jesus, but he chose to allow the things around him to take his eyes off Jesus and the sea started to swallow him up.
31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
How many of us are like Peter? We allow the things of this world to remove the joy from our lives, it keeps us from rejoicing in the Lord repeatedly, constantly, and we, too, have the world close upon us and try to swallow us up? Instead of worry, we should rejoice, and through rejoicing we can find peace.
Peace Through Prayer and Petition
Peace Through Prayer and Petition
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
No one escapes trials in life. Bad things are going to happen. That is the awful reality of life, but it is how we deal with these things that really matter. Hey, has anyone ever had a bad day and we take it out on everyone around us? Bite their heads off, gripe and whatever is done, just plain miserable. We, instead, should be rejoicing and that should bring about reasonableness - gentleness - with those around us.
Hey, think of this - why is it so hard for people to accept Jesus as their Savior - the one who can remove the worry from our life and fill us with peace and joy? Why is it so hard? Could it be because we (Christians) act so miserable? If we are truly saved, then we must reach out into the world with loving gentleness and show the Lord to them through our actions.
Once we have made peace with God (through salvation), the peace of God fills us, but how do we KEEP the peace of God in our lives? Through our continued rejoicing (as we discussed in verse 4), but also through prayer and humble requests -supplications- to God.
We are told to not be anxious about anything - we should not worry about one single thing! Humanly, though, this is not easy. The Philippians were suffering severe persecution, had disunity and quarreling in the church, were dealing with members who were prideful, self-centered, and super-spiritual, were enduring false teaching, and were struggling for food, clothing, and shelter. Many, they truly had reasons for concerns and worry. Just like the Philippians, we are going to face these same type trials and we are going to worry. But it is our response to these circumstances that can either cause us to 1) flake out and break down, or 2) find God’s peace through the trials. Notice it isn’t OUR peace that comforts us, but it is the peace of GOD! It is like stumping your big toe, and running to your daddy so he can make it all better. We find peace, we find comfort, we find contentment in the arms of Father, God.
How many of us know of someone who is going through something that seems overwhelming to us, but they face every day with joy and make it day by day. God brings them through it, it is the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
Not only are we to pray, but we are to bring specific worries and concerns to Him. We pour out our soul to God about these great needs. We lay our needs before Him just like a child; crying, pleading, and begging for His help, comfort, deliverance, and peace.
But also notice the attitude in which we are to approach Him in our prayer - with thanksgiving. We should not approach this time of prayer and supplication with a gripe list, with the attitude that God “may or may not” answer, but with thanks and praise for all He has done for us. I think the approach of prayer may be just as important as the prayer itself! Too often we approach God not expecting Him to answer our prayer in the first place - which takes away the whole purpose of faith.
Instead, we should be walking throughout our day, sharing everything with God every step of the way, and God is taking care of every need. With this type of attitude - the attitude of faith - how could the peace of God be taken away from us? As we walk in prayer and fellowship with God, He in turn fills us with His presence and peace.
In a lot of cases, it makes no sense how we can have peace during trials in our life, but Paul sums it up best when he says the pace of God passes all understanding. There is no way to describe the peace of God, it’s greater than anything we could ever ask for or imagine. It is a peace that carries the believer BY FAITH through life’s trials and tribulation.
Peace through Praise
Peace through Praise
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
We should remind ourselves of the peace God provides - the word used for “think” here means we should reflect upon them. The idea of this is if we think about all the things God has done for us, we then keep our minds on God and it shapes our thoughts and behaviors, and what we think influences who we are and what we do.
William Barclay said in the Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, “… it is a law of life that, if a man thinks of something often enough and long enough, he will come to the stage when he cannot stop thinking about it.”
I often wondered why my grandparents would sit outside in the porch rockers and would rock for hours upon hours. I never asked, but as I get older I find myself on the cabin in the hollow on our farm, in a rocking chair thanking God for all He has done for me and my family, and turning over the worries of this world to God so that I can have peace.
Instead, many want to think in terms of solving their problems with the things of the world. Anxiety, worry, concern involves a trip to the psychologist instead of time in prayer. A lack of understanding requires a trip to the library to read worldly philosophers points of views instead of reading the manual of life (the Bible), our lack of faith is then manifest by blaming God for not answering our prayers. If we look for answers to the problems of this world in worldly things or worldly ways, then how can God provide us with the peace we truly desire? And, without that true peace, won’t we just find ourselves more anxious, worrying more, feeling empty, and restless?
Instead, I would suggest keeping our eyes focused on God and what He has done for us throughout our lives.
Gratitude list - for every year of your life, write something you are grateful for. When you are worrying, take this list out and go through it, because it is almost impossible to be grateful for what God has done in our lives and worry.
When trials, tribulations, anxiety, restlessness hit us, then take the list out and ponder over just how good God has been to us. This then gives us the opportunity to conquer our mind, conquer the liar (Satan), and focus on the goodness of God and when we do that, we truly experience the peace that surpasses ALL understanding.
Closing
Closing
Often we worry about things we fear - things we cannot control - but that is not the way God intended.
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Fear is not a feeling, fear is a spirit that does not come from God and this fear leads to worry and if fear is not from God then worry does not come from God either. Are we intentional about our relationship with God? Do we have a good enough relationship with Him that we can bring our worries to Him, talk to Him about our worries, lay our worries down on Him, and then get up and leave them there. Too often, we want to lay our worries down, but then we want to pick them back up after we tell them to God.
God intends for us to have peace. We are not what the world says we are, instead we are what God says we are. The things of this life are not the biggest things that have happened to us, the biggest thing that will ever happen is when we accept Jesus as our Savior. And when we accept Him as Savior, then we can experience true peace in our lives.
