Confusing Peace

I saw it in her eyes as I slowly made my way down the line at the wake. It’s not something you can really put your finger on, not something that you can tell someone how to get or explain when you see it. I can only quantify it as “You know it when you see it”. Her eyes weren’t empty. She had just lost her son at 17 to a terrible disease but there was life still there as our eyes met.

For someone who has witnessed this themselves, and has taken part in this peace, the words that come out next aren’t the words that someone at a wake would normally hear. They are no longer words of condolence so much as words of thanks, praise, and adoration. Words that acknowledge a God who knows what He is doing and a place that transcends anything here on earth.

I’m certainly not saying she wasn’t sad or didn’t miss her son. I’m not saying I wasn’t sad about missing my friend. But the peace of God surpasses understanding and I could spend 5,000 words trying to explain it here and not do it any justice.

Some know I am going through a few major trials right now, things I thought I’d never deal with. And it’s not easy. What ever problem you are dealing with in the moment certainly seems like the biggest and impossible to overcome. But I realize that what needs to be leaned on is the Word of God. Proverbs 3:5 tells me: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. And so I try, every day, to trust a little more.

With each finished trial comes a little more trust in the Lord for all things, a little more understanding of my place in this world, and a little more realization that He always has my best interest at heart.

A lot of Christians feel like the peace mentioned in Phillipians 4:7 is a right, that they should just have it because they asked God in to their heart one day. The verse is used a bit out of context far to often, when we only read it and not the verses that wrap it. Before it, in verses 4-6 it says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Rejoice in the painful trials you face(1 Peter 4:13). Notice that the verses don’t say “When going through a trial God pours peace all over you like hershey syrup on ice cream”. It says “everything, by prayer and petition”. All He wants is for us to seek Him and when we do, He brings us comfort that is unexplainable. I’ve glossed over one piece of this chapter often, “The Lord is near”. How often I get in to a trial and Satan convinces me the Lord is somewhere else, busy with someones bigger problem. But the more talking I do to the Lord, the more peace He pours on me and the closer I am to Him and He to me. He is the grace and peace which cover me.

Secondly, the verses after 4:7, Phillipians 8-9 say: “if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” He says hey you know what, don’t be anxious, talk to me about everything. And after you are done put what I say in to practice as well. Don’t sulk and get caught up in earthly pleasures that can bring quick satisfaction but think about things that are excellent and praiseworthy. Think about things which bring glory to Me.

Out of all that, the peace of God will be with you. It is not a gift you just get, but it is free. If you abide in Christ, if you talk to Him, and if you keep your mind on the things of God, that peace will come. It will look odd to others, it may even feel odd to you. As you soak in it you’ll be glad you followed the entire command of Christ in Phillipians 4: 4-9. I know for me, it’s helping a ton.