Day 30: God guards our hearts
Philippians 4:6-7
We have a promise from God, which is that His peace will guards our hearts. Lets dive straight into this scripture:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The Bible speaks of many great examples of peace: Peace from God, peace with God and – in this particular verse – the peace of God.
Trying to write, articulate and understand what the peace of God is like is almost impossible (which makes my job really fun here).
But I do know this; although we might struggle to explain this peace, we can experience it.
The question is, how? And the answer is Jesus.
John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
In this scripture Jesus is talking to His disciples before He departs from them for His death and resurrection. Jesus promises to leave them with His peace. At this time, it was traditional for people to wish peace upon each other before going their separate ways. Jesus here does the same, but He does not simply speak peace over his disciples, He promises to give them His peace; the peace of God.
George Campbell Morgan describes the peace of God as “a heart untroubled and fearless in spite of the suffering and conflict ahead of it.” I don’t know about you, but when I read this quote I think of Jesus. Jesus is the only One who has walked this earth and stared death in the face with completely perfect peace. When we accept Christ, we accept His fearless, peace-filled Spirit, and His peace becomes available to us. His Spirit is the key to accessing such outrageous peace.
So how does God leaving us with His Spirit link in to His promise to guard our hearts? Through the Holy Spirit we can have direct communication with God. This communication line is central, as God commands us in Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”. The Holy Spirit makes prayer, petition and thanksgiving possible for us. And this is the prerequisite to Verse 7 – The promise of peace.
When we pray to God and ask Him for His peace, He promises to send it. He is active in His response. We know this the word ‘guard’ in this scripture is that of a military context. This is an active, not a passive word. Church, when we pray asking God for His peace, He responds with military action, He comes and fights for us. God never promised to remove troubles from our lives externally, but He does promise to fill our hearts internally with the peace that the battle has been won on the cross.
Prayer
Father God, thank you for your promise of peace. May we be a people who believe in your promises and claim them. May we lift our eyes to the heavens and pray to You in all of our circumstances, trusting that You will still our hearts with your peace. May You be glorified as we become a people who face all things with a peace that comes from trusting Your good and perfect plans.
Amen.
Dan Kelland
Connect Leader