Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 NLT)
Read it again.
And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds. (Philippians 4:7 ERV)
WHAT STICKS OUT?
God's unimaginable peace
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?
>>> TARP OF UNDERSTANDING <<<
This verse tells us that God's peace is more than we can understand. We have some ideas about peace, but it's limited by what we see and understand like it's hidden or covered. The Holy Spirit showed me this as a heavy, military-grade, cloth tarp draped over some kind of equipment. The cloth wraps around the thing it covers so that you can almost guess what's under it, but you're not quite sure. You believe it's something great but it's like a top secret project that you're not allowed to see. Many times that's what happens with God's peace. Our limited understanding, our self centered view of the world, covers up God's true peace like a thick tarp. God's peace is still under there, but we have a hard time seeing it.
>>> THE LITTLE ZIPPER <<<
I recently got a pair of pants with a button fly. It's made me realize how nice and simple it is to have a zipper. Wouldn't it be nice to have a simple zipper to open up that heavy tarp that's covering the fullness of God's peace? Actually we do! You'll notice the zipper has the initials THX. If you didn't know, that's a shorthand version of the word "Thanks." We learn from the verse right before this one (Philippians 4:6) that thankfulness to God is the simple solution to unzip God's peace.
>>> HAND OF PEACE <<<
How can you draw a picture of peace without relying on a symbol like the dove or international sign for peace? Peace is a funny word because it's easier to define by what it is not. Go ahead, just try to describe peace without calling it "not war or fighting or violence." Even this verse tells us that God's peace will guard your thoughts and feelings. This idea makes me think of a shield which is a tool for war. Using weapons of war to describe peace is limiting God's peace to what our minds can handle.
Recently my wife was overwhelmed by her To-Do List so she began meditating on this verse for well over a week. She found that when she focused on thanking God, it wasn't that her problems went away, but it was like God pulled her out of her problems to understand His perspective. It was like He lifted her high up out of the mud so she could see what God saw. And what did He show her? That He is bigger than your problems. That He has taken care of them before you even saw them coming. You struggle to find peace when you are trying to manage what's going around you because you do not have that power to control the world. But God does! When you truly see God for how big He is and trust in Him instead of yourself, your problem don't destroy your peace. Your problems point you to the Prince of Peace.
