Where Is the Peace That Passes Understanding?

It was early in the morning, with my Bible open on my lap, that a text message dinged. One of my grandchildren asked for prayer as an anxious day lay ahead. Not too long after, another grandchild texted with a request asking prayer for events ahead in her day.

I leaned my head back and savored just a mite the absolute privilege of bringing these DNA-laced children to Jesus. They are, like I am, distracted by the cares of living in this world with its tests and trials. And I find it such a joy to share these requests with the Father who sees them in their worlds, and has His eyes on me in mine.

With the texts on my mind, what started as simply the next chapter in my daily Bible reading proved not just appropriate, it breathed life into a much needed centering of my being.

Philippians 4 has been one of those chapters so chocked full of good stuff, I’ve hardly ever read it through without needing to pause and chew on tidbits and phrases. Sandwiched between practical advice for Christian living, an imprisoned Paul, wrote a letter to express his gratefulness and appreciation to the church at Philippi.

Yet, at times some of his words have felt at war with my experience. They’ve bothered me, because the truths of the words juxtaposed with my surging emotions.

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5b-7 ESV)

These are familiar words to most believers. At times you too may have found them comforting, while other times perplexing, and sometimes, even incongruent with reality.

“Where is the peace that passes understanding?” One day, years ago, I asked my husband this question. We stood at the foot of my daughter’s hospital bed.

I had never felt so awful in all my life. The anxiousness of my heart and mind overwhelmed me. His purpose in such a rapid and decisive decline of my daughter’s health, found me gasping for air.

The word “anxious,” in Philippians 4 finds its root in “merimna,” to be drawn in different directions, distracted, and divided.

We all find so many things each day that divide our attention. Our eyes stray from looking at the facts. “The Lord is at hand.” Ready. Present. There in the situation. With us in our need.

School, jobs, friendships trouble my grandchildren.

World issues, health concerns, and relationships trouble their grandma.

And I sometimes forget, the Lord is at hand.

Eyes trained on Him through the centering of God’s Word, are not so easily distracted by all the stuff thrown our way. Attention fixed on Jesus finds peace from the division within our hearts.

Paul’s practical advice? Prayer. Supplication. Thanksgiving.

Dedicated prayer sets apart time and space to bow in submission before a Holy God. Supplication articulates our burden and lays it at His feet. Thanksgiving sees the blessings often hidden under the weight of worry.

Prayer, supplication and thanksgiving replace the division of our soul and turn our eyes upward. Like the lens of a magnifying glass, their practice enlarges Jesus and diminishes our splintered attentions.

Paul equates God’s peace to a military guard watching over our hearts.

Many years ago we rode a rollercoaster of anxiety and fear inside those hospital walls. Jesus gathered us to Himself again and again with His unexplainable presence. He threaded His glory through dark days, weaving a centering truth despite obvious crisis. He was at hand.

Peace is much more than an inward feeling, it is based on the fact of a Savior at hand. It gathers our worries and anxieties and replaces them with thanksgiving. He is Holy and Good. He takes divided hearts, filled with anxiety and fear, and unites them with Truth.

The prayer requests of a grandchild or a grandma, the challenge of a job or a stage of life, whether the situation is one of joy or sorrow, our beings center when we bring our requests and thanksgiving to Him.

“The Lord is at hand,” Paul wrote. And surely, as the Holy Spirit guided the Apostle’s pen in the confines of imprisonment, the guarding peace of this truth centered him too.