The Peace of God


Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God often seems so far away, and so unattainable. However, right here Paul in his letter to the church in Philippi states that the peace of God will surround our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. So what gives? Why do we feel stressed, and ill at ease? I think the key phrase here is “in Christ Jesus” I have talked a lot about the importance of being in Jesus’ presence and I think this verse only strengthens my case and my words back at my own heart. I have noticed over and over again how I see the importance of being in the presence of the all mighty but I don’t act on what I’m seeing or writing in my IBS’. Honestly I’m not quite sure how to get there. Being in God’s presence requires, in my mind, spending time with Him, building a relationship with Him. I’ve felt the need to read my bible more but I often find myself getting nothing out of it. I have recently realized that God matches our level of commitment. If you’re like me and you give God one hour in the morning, and maybe a few prayers during the day then you’ll find, as I have, that there are two problems with this. First you don’t feel fulfilled or at peace with God, you find yourself waxing and yielding to the sleepiness in the morning until you have completely cut out your time with God and aren’t even upset about it. Second you might notice that this schedule leaves very little time for God to speak to you, if you are half heartedly reading your bible in the morning while blinking the sand out of your eyes you are not really focused on getting anything from God and, just like you stop listening to a teacher as she drones on, you have closed your ears to God. From there you go on about your day and maybe pray over a meal or send up a quick pray before dealing with a difficult situation but you still haven’t listened to anything God is telling you. Sadly this perfectly describes most days for me, sometimes something will happen for example “IGNITE” and I will get renewed vigor to read my bible because “it’s the thing to do” but I usually slip back into my old habits and begin to feel restless and anxiety creeps back into my life because I stop even trying to spend time with God. You don’t have to spend hours dedicated to reading the bible each day, if you’re anything like me it will become a chore you despise, but you should spend some time dedicatedly seeking God and carefully listening for His responses. It requires effort and there are no promises God will respond right away but you will be blessed for the time you spend with God, reading His word or praying, all of it will do things you may not see for years to come but it will be rewarded by God who sees all things, even the little things like getting out of bed when you don’t want to, in order to spend time developing a relationship with God. As you spend dedicated time with our Father you will begin to feel and know His peace in situations when you wouldn’t normally have peace, a peace which transcends all human knowledge and goes straight to your heart and spirit.

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