Philippians 4:6-9 THE PEACE OF GOD
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Here is a promise - when we pray, we’ll get something. Phil 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (v. 6). In other words don’t struggle, don’t worry... Whatever is troubling you, whatever that is weighing heavily on your heart - this is what you are to pray about.
Whatever it is — talk to Him about it! And then the promise - “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v.7).
Do not be anxious about anything - in order words, not even over one thing. We need not have to be worried for any ONE thing.
In fact, the ball is in our court - we have to "choose" not to worry... The other alternative is - GIVE IT TO GOD.
In fact, it is a picture of God inviting us to come to Him. "Come, give it to Me!" Are you worried about something? God says, "Come, leave it to Me!" Are you carrying something heavy in your heart? "God says, "Come, give it to Me!"
Use of the words - CAST...
§ Psalm 55:22 (turn to it together) Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.
§ 1 Pet 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
There is this sense of an EXCHANGE...
Jesus: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28)
He is standing there... ready to help us. Unless we allow Him, He will not force us to let go.
Oswald’s Chambers in his devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest asks this question:
"Are You Obsessed by Something?" He says we are to be obsessed only by the presence of God. If I am obsessed by something - I will be thinking of it all the time, throughout the day. And into the night, I’ll even dream about it. Now if we’re so conscious of God’s presence all the time, nothing else can get into my life - not worries, not concerns.
"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety." ...George Mueller.
HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THAT? By PRAYER and PETITION
The equation is clear: PRAY and you’ll receive PEACE (that transcend all understanding.)
Do you want to worry less? Then pray more! If I constantly PRAY for EVERYTHING, then I won’t need to be ANXIOUS about anything. Because SOMEONE better, wiser, greater - is handling it! It is now in His hands!
Prayer is doing just that - casting our cares on Him, letting go of our concerns to God.
Believing that He is more than capable of handling it.
Henry Blackaby in his book Experiencing God, writes,
"As you no doubt have discovered, becoming a Christian does not make your problems go away. But it does give you an advocate to whom you can take every concern."
"Casting our cares" is a choice you make. It means consciously handing over our anxiety to Him and allowing Him to carry the weight of our problems. Very often, this is the most difficult part of trusting God.
Someone said, "He wants you to learn to trust His heart even when you cannot trace His steps."
Dear bro/sis, God sees you as His frail child, burdened with a load that surpasses your strength. He stands prepared to take your load and to carry it for you. Will you let Him?
Find a quiet place where you can pour your heart out to God in prayer. Do it every day, consistently. And I promise you on the authority of God’s Word, you will find release from your burdens!
GOD GIVES US A PROMISE WHEN WE DO THAT...
Verse 7: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So living a life the peace of God is a choice. Nothing can rob you of your peace - because it does not come from the circumstances, the people around you, or this world. It comes from God.
We have this peace because of the assurance that God has our lives under control. And He is continuously working (though mysteriously) to accomplish His purpose.
7And the peace of God... will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The words “will guard your hearts” is from a military word - "setting up of sentry guards". Picture of guards patrolling and keeping watch at the gates, making sure no harm can come in. God’s peace protects our hearts and minds, so we won’t be overtaken by fears and anxieties.
Peace In Christ Jesus
In the north Atlantic, icebergs are often seen in the wintertime. Ships sailing the Atlantic are often caught in violent storms. Mighty vessels are tossed about like chips by the huge waves. How different it is with the icebergs! Like majestic, white castles, they glide peaceful through the storms. They were defiant of the mighty waves, which are hurling against them. Why?
Only one-ninth of an iceberg is above the waters. The lower part is deep in the ocean where there is calm.
When our lives are hidden with Christ, the storms of life are powerless to take from us the peace we have in God.
And finally... Paul says:
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Think of what God has revealed to us - the truth, that which is noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. We often think of the negative. We focus on how many who had died and not on the many who had recovered.
Look at the 12 spies who went to look at the land of Canaan. Ten focused their eyes of their BIG enemies and see themselves as grasshoppers. They were filled with fear. All that God said was thrown out of their minds.
Joshua and Caleb focused their eyes on their BIG God and see the enemies as very small. This is what they say (Num 14:9) - "... do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
Shepherd boy David went to the battlefront to see his brothers and realised the whole army of Israel was terrified, because of the Philistine giant Goliath (over 2.8m tall). They saw a BIG enemy. But what David saw was a small enemy standing against his BIG God. "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Sam 17:26) He said, "I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty..." (1 Sam 17:45)
We have a BIG God, an Almighty, powerful, great God.
We have to think on the TRUTH revealed to us, the PROMISES of God... whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me (the truth of God preached and lived by Paul) - put it into practice.
Apply it to your circumstances. Learn from Joshua and Caleb. Learn from David. When we THINK about all that God has told us - we need not fear. For the God of peace will be with you.
If He is the God of peace, it means where God is, there is peace.
It’s interesting to know that Jesus is called the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6).
Although we can use other names - Prince of Hope, Prince of Love... these are appropriate.
Perhaps that’s what man needed most - peace in our hearts. And Isaiah was inspired to reveal Him to us in such a way...
(1) Make a choice - decide to cast your cares on Him and stop worrying.
(2) Do something - pray.
(3) And we are given a promise: Peace.
How God would help you out in your particular problem, we do not know.
But no matter what the outcome, one thing is definite - He is to give you His peace.
This does not mean we’ll get what we want. It means we can live with it because we’ve got something better — satisfaction.
The promise is there and available, but we must follow the first two steps in order for the third to occur.
CONCLUSION
God knows your unfulfilled desires, your broken dreams, your disappointments, and your defeats. He can bring about peace in your life in the midst of these challenges and He longs to do that for you today.
Pray for God to give you a new perspective on your difficult circumstances. Ask for His help to strengthen your trust in Him and your reliance upon His power despite the difficulty you are facing. He will enable you to find that peace He longs to give you.
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If you have never trusted Christ as your Saviour and yet your heart longs to cry out for help, you can do so today. Call on Him to forgive your sins. Believe that He died for you and make Him your Lord and Saviour. You will receive the forgiveness of sins and a new life. There is a home in heaven waiting for us. Accept Jesus Christ today.
