“Have no anxiety 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 passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7, RSV)
When the Bible translators worked with Chol Indians in Southern Mexico, they looked for a word or phrase among the people there that would best describe the word “peace” used in the Bible. It took a few days, but they chose the Chol words for “a quiet heart” to use in their Bible translation. They thought these words best explained what the Biblical concept of peace meant for the Chol people.
I like the Chol words that were chosen to explain the Biblical concept of peace. “A quiet heart” implies that a person’s inner temperament is calm and rested. It implies that one’s soul is not conflicted or agitated or longing. When a Christian soul is at peace, there is a quiet calm that settles throughout body and mind. Thoughts are not racing. The heart is not stirred. A tranquility spreads throughout one’s being. This is truly what it means to experience the peace God gives. How often do you experience “a quiet heart”?
The scripture reading from Philippians chosen for today explains how the faithful acquire “the peace of God”. Philippians 4:6 explains that when a person has “no anxiety about anything”, peace will be abundant. How do you shed anxiety? Easy. Philippians 4:6 also gives this answer. It teaches that anxiety disappears when “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” you open yourself up to God. If you are willing to trust in God, lean on God, hope in God through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in your heart, the peace of God will settle throughout your body and soul. The lack of peace occurs when a person is unwilling to trust in God. It comes about when a person refuses to lean on God through prayer. Those who lack peace do not express their needs and hurts to God. OR they are unwilling to express thanksgiving and praise for their blessings. When you find yourself lacking peace, it is best to search heart and soul for the lack of trust in God, missing prayer time, the deficiency of supplication, or the absence of thanksgiving. When any of these crucial elements is missing, the peace of God will vaporize.
If you read between the lines in the scripture for today, it becomes painfully obvious that the peace of God has nothing whatsoever to do with the absence of problems, the lack of money, good health, or suffering. A person can be hurting yet experience the peace of God. Life can be chaotic, yet one can experience the peace of God coursing through heart and soul and mind. When you are deeply connected with God, your prayers are frequent and open. When you are willing to trust in the providence of God and bursting with thanksgiving and praise, the peace of God will find you. That peace from God will quiet your anxiety and ease your mind.
Darla came home from work all stressed out. The day had been chaotic. Recently, Darla had found it best to just pour herself a glass of wine and sit quietly on her sofa in order to calm down from work related stress. After doing this every day for two weeks, Darla’s roommate commented on the behavior. She told Darla, “I thought you were a Christian! Why are you drinking every day? Is this the only way you can calm down?” Darla’s roommate knew that Darla’s family had a history of alcoholism. The roommate made the comment out of concern. The look Darla gave her was incredulous. The roommate decided to keep her comments to herself.
Over the next few days, her roommate’s words kept echoing in Darla’s mind. Was she right? Was Darla slipping into a habit where alcohol was the best answer to calm her after a hectic day at work?
The next Sunday, Darla was at worship when the pastor commented during the sermon that after John the Baptist’s death, Jesus “withdrew from there by boat to be alone” (Matthew 14:13). The pastor went on to explain that Jesus needed to connect with God the Father to mourn John’s death. When these words came out of the pastor’s mouth, Darla immediately thought back to her roommate’s comment. Darla realized that she had turned to alcohol to ease her mind after a hectic workday instead of praying with God for peace and calm and healing.
Darla is like many of us. We do not realize how often we look for comfort or peace or security or joy in the wrong places. Instead of praying, we take comfort in food or drink or video games or sex or a hobby. We think that buying a new gadget will bring joy. We look to worldly sources of entertainment to ease the stress. We seek the accolades of others on Facebook to placate our insecurities. We think that something in this world will take care of all our problems. All this brings about more anxiety instead of less. The peace of God never comes, because we are focused on worldly sources for comfort and assurance. As Christians, we should know better. Today’s scripture is just one more reminder that anxiety leaves when one is filled with the peace of God. That only occurs when we trust in God enough that “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” we lean on God’s grace.
How much of God’s peace have you been experienced lately? Are you filled with anxiety? Do you worry about too many things? Maybe you need to reclaim today’s scripture. Maybe you too are forgetting to pray enough. It might be that you haven’t counted your blessings. Maybe your thoughts and feelings are wrapped in all the wrong things instead of “keeping your heart and mind in Christ Jesus”?
I like the Chol words that were chosen to explain the Biblical concept of peace. “A quiet heart” implies that a person’s inner temperament is calm and rested. It implies that one’s soul is not conflicted or agitated or longing. When a Christian soul is at peace, there is a quiet calm that settles throughout body and mind. Thoughts are not racing. The heart is not stirred. A tranquility spreads throughout one’s being. This is truly what it means to experience the peace God gives. How often do you experience “a quiet heart”?
The scripture reading from Philippians chosen for today explains how the faithful acquire “the peace of God”. Philippians 4:6 explains that when a person has “no anxiety about anything”, peace will be abundant. How do you shed anxiety? Easy. Philippians 4:6 also gives this answer. It teaches that anxiety disappears when “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” you open yourself up to God. If you are willing to trust in God, lean on God, hope in God through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in your heart, the peace of God will settle throughout your body and soul. The lack of peace occurs when a person is unwilling to trust in God. It comes about when a person refuses to lean on God through prayer. Those who lack peace do not express their needs and hurts to God. OR they are unwilling to express thanksgiving and praise for their blessings. When you find yourself lacking peace, it is best to search heart and soul for the lack of trust in God, missing prayer time, the deficiency of supplication, or the absence of thanksgiving. When any of these crucial elements is missing, the peace of God will vaporize.
If you read between the lines in the scripture for today, it becomes painfully obvious that the peace of God has nothing whatsoever to do with the absence of problems, the lack of money, good health, or suffering. A person can be hurting yet experience the peace of God. Life can be chaotic, yet one can experience the peace of God coursing through heart and soul and mind. When you are deeply connected with God, your prayers are frequent and open. When you are willing to trust in the providence of God and bursting with thanksgiving and praise, the peace of God will find you. That peace from God will quiet your anxiety and ease your mind.
Darla came home from work all stressed out. The day had been chaotic. Recently, Darla had found it best to just pour herself a glass of wine and sit quietly on her sofa in order to calm down from work related stress. After doing this every day for two weeks, Darla’s roommate commented on the behavior. She told Darla, “I thought you were a Christian! Why are you drinking every day? Is this the only way you can calm down?” Darla’s roommate knew that Darla’s family had a history of alcoholism. The roommate made the comment out of concern. The look Darla gave her was incredulous. The roommate decided to keep her comments to herself.
Over the next few days, her roommate’s words kept echoing in Darla’s mind. Was she right? Was Darla slipping into a habit where alcohol was the best answer to calm her after a hectic day at work?
The next Sunday, Darla was at worship when the pastor commented during the sermon that after John the Baptist’s death, Jesus “withdrew from there by boat to be alone” (Matthew 14:13). The pastor went on to explain that Jesus needed to connect with God the Father to mourn John’s death. When these words came out of the pastor’s mouth, Darla immediately thought back to her roommate’s comment. Darla realized that she had turned to alcohol to ease her mind after a hectic workday instead of praying with God for peace and calm and healing.
Darla is like many of us. We do not realize how often we look for comfort or peace or security or joy in the wrong places. Instead of praying, we take comfort in food or drink or video games or sex or a hobby. We think that buying a new gadget will bring joy. We look to worldly sources of entertainment to ease the stress. We seek the accolades of others on Facebook to placate our insecurities. We think that something in this world will take care of all our problems. All this brings about more anxiety instead of less. The peace of God never comes, because we are focused on worldly sources for comfort and assurance. As Christians, we should know better. Today’s scripture is just one more reminder that anxiety leaves when one is filled with the peace of God. That only occurs when we trust in God enough that “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” we lean on God’s grace.
How much of God’s peace have you been experienced lately? Are you filled with anxiety? Do you worry about too many things? Maybe you need to reclaim today’s scripture. Maybe you too are forgetting to pray enough. It might be that you haven’t counted your blessings. Maybe your thoughts and feelings are wrapped in all the wrong things instead of “keeping your heart and mind in Christ Jesus”?