Word of Encouragement (6/3/2021)
We are considering is Phil. 4:6-7: “do not be anxious 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 surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Yesterday, we talked about how important it is for us to accompany our prayer with thanksgiving. Today, let’s talk about God’s promise of peace for those who pray.
We are told that the peace, which God promises, is “the peace of God.” What is this? Grammatically, it can be the peace that God has in Himself as “the God of peace” (v. 9), or a feeling of peace that God creates in us. Even if it is the latter, it is supernatural in character—“which surpasses all understanding....” It is the kind of peace that you can have even when, by all human accounts, peace is the last thing you should feel. Christians all throughout history have testified to experiencing this peace amid a perilous situation or at the face of impending doom, or while going through a heartbreaking loss (of something precious or loved ones), or as they are called on to perform a challenging task with high stakes, etc. In fact, the more desperate and dangerous the situation, the more profound is their experience of the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.
This peace is able to “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Dennis Johnson points out that the word, “guard,” is a military term. Here, we have a picture of Satan attacking our hearts and minds with anxiety to destroy, and deprive us of, our faith and hope in Jesus Christ. But when we refuse to panic and pray instead, the peace of God will “guard” our hearts and minds from anxiety and all the havoc it wreaks in our souls.
All this is done “in Christ Jesus.” Sinners cannot receive, let alone enjoy, the peace of God. All that they are entitled to is the wrath of God for sinners. But “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). The peace of God, therefore, is not something we can manufacture with self-hypnosis or acquire with our willpower. It is available only to those, who are “in Christ” by faith. It is grounded in the peace we have with God through our justification by faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is available to us at all times. Even though God may remove the light of His countenance from us for a time as a means of discipline or as a reminder of how precious His fellowship is to us, it is only for a time, not forever.
We must also consider the possibility that “the peace of God” Paul speaks of here is actually the peace that God has in Himself. Think about what Jesus said: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). If He desires us to have His joy, we can also see that He desires to give us His peace as well. When we pray, God is willing to impart His perfect, transcendent peace to us! And it is with His peace that He promises to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!
Do you need the peace of God in your heart? Pray to God with thanksgiving. The peace of God is not just for some special Christians. It is available to all those in Christ Jesus, who pray with thanksgiving. “O what peace we often forfeit, / O what needless pain we bear, / all because we do not carry / everything to God in prayer.”