The God of Peace Will See You Through

The current events of the last several months have unveiled an almost unending barrage of human suffering. Uvalde, Ukraine, and scandal in a major church denomination have inundated the headline news. Well-meaning friends encourage us to ignore current events hoping to salvage our mental well-being. Turning off news reports may provide temporary relief, but our minds tend to veer back into the pit of despair. It’s easy to drift into neutral and waste precious time in sadness and anxiety.

Paul writes in Philippians 4:6-7, encouraging the stress-ridden Philippian church to petition God in prayer with thankful hearts and that God’s peace will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Refocusing our attention on God and letting him bear the weight of our worries places a guard at the door of our minds and heart - allowing only the peace of God to gain entrance.

It is simply not enough to cease our thinking from falling down the spiral of anxiety. Instead, we must act under the peace of God to think about good things - to keep our minds in a constant state of wholeness. We bought an old fixer-upper earlier this year - a house built in 1939 with a full basement. I love to work on home improvement projects, and a clean basement workshop is essential. However, years of neglect have left this basement smelling musty. It also occasionally leaks water during heavy rain. Removing the water and washing the mold away will suffice for a while, but after the next storm, these things will return, filling my mind with tension and worry that my tools will rust and I will have to breathe unhealthy air!

I must put into action the things that I know will remedy the basement. The antidote for water intrusion begins with thinking of a plan that will be right for my situation. I first deal with the problem by repairing the leaky gutters. I then seal the cracks in the wall from the outside and finally paint the interior walls and floor with good water-resistant paint or sealant. However, this one-time fix is only the beginning. I must constantly keep the gutters clean and seal any new cracks, careful to observe any place where the paint may begin to chip.

Paul uses two imperatives for the church - think and practice. What is Paul referring to when asking the believers to think about and practice “these things?” Thinking about the things that are true, worthy of honor, and pure encourages love and readies the mind for action. When their minds are thinking correctly, they can imitate the things Paul was doing by walking with God.

My father-in-law has been staying with us for a few weeks to help with our home improvements. He is the quintessential handyman and is more experienced than I in keeping a basement clean and dry. When frustration mounts with my limited skills, he is always patient with me, offering advice and stepping in to do the work to show how it’s done. He is intentional not only in showing me but also in demonstrating the proper way to do things. He even painted the entire basement himself! My father-in-law is with me through the whole process so that I may do the same for my son or grandchild down the road. Likewise, at the end of Paul’s final admonishments to practice the things they have seen in him, he promises that the God of peace will be with them.

Verse 7 affirms that by laying our petitions before God, the peace of God will guard our minds and hearts against anxiety. By the end of verse 9, we see the result. The God of peace - God himself will be with us! As I contemplate the distressing recent events of the last few months, I am reminded to stay on course by filling my mind with the promises found in God’s word. As I pray for those, who are suffering, believing God for his intervention, I find myself acting in ways that reflect the compassionate nature of Christ, declaring his promises to others. These promises include salvation, an eternal dwelling place with Him, and the ability to serve those around me in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Many faithful Christ followers are doing the work of God despite the difficulty that encompasses them. I find encouragement to stay the course through these believers, knowing that God - the God of Peace is with us.

~ Shan Norwood and his wife Rina have been members at LIFE Fellowship for seven years. Shan is a graduate of Gordon Conwell Seminary and holds degrees in Biblical Studies and Christian Thought. He serves as a LIFE University instructor and as a stepdad to Micah and Caleb Godsey.