The Peace of God Philippians 4:7
Philippians 4:7 (NIV)
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So far in our journey in Philippians 4:4-8 we have talked about being joyful, gentle, and not being anxious. In Philippians 4:7 we are introduced to the peace of God that transcends all understanding.
As followers of Christ (people who have believed in our hearts and confessed with our mouths that Jesus is Lord), we have been saved, born again, made new. We are new creation people. Our sins have been forgiven and we are reconciled to God. As we press into Him, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds and the way we experience life is changed.
Are You Experiencing His Peace?
Paul has encouraged us to rejoice in the Lord, to walk in the power of gentleness, and to resist the temptation of the enemy to get caught up in worry and anxiousness. The glorious result of being reconciled to God and yielding to Holy Spirit is that we now have access to His peace.
His peace is a peace that passes understanding. We don’t need to live lives of worry and fear, we can experience His peace and the fullness of the now and forever life that He came to bring us.
Without the peace of God in our lives, it is really easy to get distracted, to feel weary, and to lose heart. Without His peace we quickly become self-focused and anxious. It is necessary to be experiencing His peace if we are to live as His disciples, and when we are not experiencing His peace, it is a sign that something needs to be done on our end. We should be experiencing this peace that passes understanding in our heart and mind.
John 14:27 (NIV)
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
If you are troubled and fearful, if you are feeling that inner everything is bad kind of feeling, deep inside, then you are not experiencing His peace.
Isaiah 26:3-4 (NIV)
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
If your mind is spinning and racing and turning through different plans, scenarios, and possible outcomes, then you are not experiencing His peace.
His Peace is Found in His Presence
The peace for our hearts and minds is found in His presence. When we are focusing on Him, yielding to Holy Spirit, keeping God in the equation of our lives, we should have a measure of peace.
I think of this peace as my soul being at rest. It doesn’t mean that there are not real issues going on around me, it just means that there is a sense that somehow I know He is with me and for me. When we lose that sense of peace, it usually means we need to stop, breathe, change our focus, and remember that He is good, He is faithful and He loves us.
“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God no matter what the conflict”…… Anonymous
One of the biggest problems we have is that when we are not at peace, when we are anxious or discomforted because of the conflicts all around us, we often turn to things other than God for comfort.
I have turned to a lot of other things for comfort throughout the course of my life. Sometimes there is a fleeting relief but it doesn’t last.
The only way back to His peace is to get back in His presence. We often have to spiritually fight through the oppression and weariness to breakthrough to His peace. We don’t usually FEEL like it, so we have to take a stand and do it. And then this can happen:
Philippians 4:7 (MSG)
7 Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
I recommend you take some time this week to sit and dwell on the heart of Jesus for you this week found in John 14:27:
John 14:27 (NIV)
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
God is Faithful. He is good. He loves you with an everlasting love. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid!
Steve Lawes is the founder of the Online Bible Institute and Pastor of Keys Vineyard Church.
