A Peace That Passes Understanding

My pastor is doing a series called Hallelujah Anyway & it’s been really amazing truths each week. Here’s some of my journal notes from last weeks message…

We all want peace. Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace in our soul. Normally how it goes is that when all’s well…everyone’s healthy, relationships are good, money’s rolling in, we have peace. It's when things start unraveling, we lose a job, people fail us, we get sick, that the worry, fear & anxiety take over & we begin to come undone. We MUST have a peace that is not dependent on our situations otherwise we will find ourselves always striving to keep things going just right & losing it again & again when they don't.

THIS is how you get true peace, ”Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer & petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts & minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - 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 in into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Phillipians 4:6-9

It’s not often that you see somebody who is spending time on his or her face in prayer, crying out to God, listening, obeying & seeking Him who is miserable & without peace. Peace goes hand in hand with thanksgiving, obedience, prayer & mind stayed on the things of God.

I’ll tell you from personal experience that circumstances do not have to affect on your peace. Last year when I had half of my face go completely paralyzed for a few weeks & had the most painful shingles in my ear, I didn’t know what in the world was happening, for those 3 weeks laying in bed, unable to even blink on my own, I had this unbelievable peace even in the chaos…would my face stay like this forever, many said it would, would this pain subside, what did I even have that was causing all of this to happen….all of these unknowns and yet I had this amazing peace that came from God that I could not have had in my own flesh. It kinda baffled me at first because I knew I "should" be totally freaking out but I just wasn't. It was truly a peace that passes understanding.

When you seek His face, pray & have your mind on Him & His ways, when you put into practice the things He’s taught you, you will have a peace that doesn’t make sense in this world & to others, but it’s real & secure because it cannot be taken away by a job lost or a relationship ending or anything else on this earth.

I love that as today I was going to write these thoughts out, I saw that the verse of the day in my Bible app was this, ”You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3