The Peace That Keeps

Philippians 4:6. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Have you ever stopped to consider that God’s peace keeps us? The word that we just read said it does. It keeps our hearts or spirits, and it also keeps our mind or soul.

In today’s world you see all kinds of self help programs designed to help people deal with everyday life situations. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on therapy and anxiety disorder programs that are designed to help people cope with every day stresses. I am not discouraging these things or saying they are wrong in and of them selves but I am saying God’s Word is showing us a better way.

I realize in our extremely busy paced lives, it is sometimes easy to forget the reason for our very existence. We are here to serve God. God our Father wants us to be happy and blessed, not stressed and vexed, yet that is the way most people are. That is because they don’t know the One who gives life and peace. Jesus said this very thing.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jesus talking to His disciples is saying He has given us His peace. This is not the kind of peace that comes from having lack of pressure; it is the peace that comes regardless of what life throws your way. We don’t live in a vacuum, just the opposite, we live in the most stressed out time in history. We know that life can throw a lot of things at us, and many times we feel like, why is this happening to me! I know this; regardless of what the world throws at us; God’s peace will keep us! We have a job and a responsibility to receive what Jesus has given to us. Even though He has given it to us, we have to learn to receive it and walk in it.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

There is a set of instructions to follow that tells us how to let God’s peace rule us.

This is not automatic; we must obey God’s Word in order to receive this blessing of peace.

Even though Jesus has already told us He has left us His peace, that does not mean that we are automatically walking in it. If that were so, there would not be any stressed out Christians. I believe if we all followed His precepts and walked according to His word, there would be no stressed out Christians. We know that is not the case, so what do we as believers need to do to become partakers of this awesome promise.

Let’s look at what we just read. First of all the Word is telling us we must let the peace of God rule in our hearts. We have to let it. Have you ever considered this? We have to give God permission to let His peace rule us. If we won’t let it, it won’t rule us. That may sound hard but it is the way it is. God is a gentleman and He won’t come in uninvited or where He is not welcome. It may not be your intention to be unwelcoming towards Him but when you hold on to anxiety and care, that is exactly what you are doing. You may say well you just don’t know what I am going through. That may be true but God does and He is the One that matters. He wants to take that burden from you and give you his peace. You have to let it go.

-- Simple English

1 Peter 5:7 Throw all your worries onto God, because He cares for you.

To throw means to use force to expel something away from you. This is not always easy but is something we can do with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. You have to throw the burden onto God and then receive His peace in place of that burden.

You have to cast or throw your cares and worries onto God. He truly loves you and wants you to be anxiety free. This is not denial of reality; this is walking hand in hand with the one who sustains you. See the difference?