The priority of Peace
My morning reflections on Philippians 4:6-7
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This morning I turned to Philippians 4 to read through and write. One of my favorite ways to study the Bible and engage and spend time in God’s Word is by writing out the scriptures that I am reading or thinking about. I dissect them as I used to do when reading case law or statutes in law school and it always leads me on a beautiful journey in seeing the harmony of scripture.
This morning I read,
Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
I’ve read this countless times in my lifetime but this morning one thing that leaped off of the page is the promise this contains. The promise here is not, let your requests be made known and they will be granted. The promise here is something greater, something more necessary, something more supernatural even.
The promise is that God will give us His peace—”the peace of God”— and this peace is differentiated from any other peace because it’s a peace (1) that surpasses all understanding (2) that will guard your heart and (3) will guard your mind.
Initially, if you are seeking God and you read these verses you may think—okay, cool, but what about my request? Are you going to get to that? I’m praying, I’m supplicating, I’m giving thanks, I’m making my request made known. What’s it all for if not for my requests to be granted?
And here, in these words, I believe we are being given the answer. God, through our prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving is changing our hearts and mind just as much as He is guarding them. I believe through earnest prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving we learn that life is more than our requests. Yes, we get to make them. He freely gives us permission and instruction that we can ask of Him what we desire. But He also so clearly teaches us (1) that He already knows what we need and (2) He does not want us to worry.
Jesus is shifting our focus off of self and onto Him and the things that matter to Him. Is this a part of the peace of God—lifting our eyes off of our agenda and pursuing His?
We trust that God knows what we need, right? My thinking here is He knows that, regardless of what we’re asking for, what we need is His peace, we need our hearts and our minds guarded through Christ Jesus.
And to be clear, it’s not just “peace” that we need. It’s His peace which He consistently reminds us differs from any that the world can offer. See, for example, 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.” (emphasis added)
These particular words make it clear that this is a peace we only receive through Him. It’s not a peace we receive from a relaxing weekend or even therapy (but praise Jesus for wise counsel), the peace that we need is not a man-derived or man-made peace.
All I could think this morning is that God’s peace is the prize. The benefits can only come from God—a guarded heart and mind through Christ Jesus. When a building is properly guarded, it can be developed without fear of destruction or tampering during the vulnerable state it is in during development. Read that again. Guarding, I think, is necessary for development.
Guarding is necessary for development.
A guard protects and keeps harmful things that should not enter from coming in. A guard creates a barrier of protection, a boundary. This promise of the peace of God is a peace that protects your mind from running rampant with worry and worst case scenarios. This peace guards your heart so that your emotions won’t rule or overtake you.
The prize, the promise, is peace and protection of the two things that cause us the most turmoil—our heart (the seat of our emotions) and our mind (where our actions and beliefs form).1 Imagine walking through life with a peace that surpasses all understanding (that includes your own understanding) with your heart and mind guarded through Christ Jesus. The result? Anxious for nothing. Peace. In the fiery furnace but guarded and not alone. What a promise!
The condition.
But there is a condition for this promise of peace—in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (all words here matter and are necessary).
A life of prayer. A life of thanksgiving. A life of humbly seeking Him.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Prayer is another subject for another post. My point that I wanted to make here is do not overlook or downgrade the peace of God because you’re so concerned about your requests. I know what it’s like to not have a request granted, but to have peace and joy that makes even me scratch my head for a millisecond.
My prayer is that you will, through prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, be overtaken by the peace of God and see how that drowns out the requests, it takes the spotlight off of them because you’re moved to enjoy something greater. There is nothing this world can offer that’s better.
Prioritize the peace of God. Pursue it relentlessly and sincerely. Give it its rightful place in your life and watch how much easier it is to “be anxious for NOTHING.”
The interconnectedness of the heart and mind is constantly discussed throughout scripture and is something else I’m writing, reading about through scripture. “For as he thinks [mind] in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7