The concept of having The Peace of God is presented throughout the Bible in the Old and New Testament. For example:
Isaiah 26:3, You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you
Psalm 119:165, Great peace have those who love your law
Judges 6:24, Then Gideon built an alter there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace.
Philippians 4:7, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
Colossians 3:15, And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body
But what exactly does it mean to have the Peace of God, and more importantly, how do you get it and keep it in the midst of challenging times in our life?
Misnomer
Let’s start with a misnomer, the Peace of God does not imply no stress. Our lives will be full of the stresses of life. Even Jesus himself felt that pressure when he was facing what he knew was coming…the cross. So much so, he was sweating droplets of blood while praying on the night he was going to be arrested.
Luke 22:44, And being in agony he [Jesus] prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Sweating blood is a medical condition know as hematidrosis. Hematidrosis occurs when tiny capillary blood vessels surrounding the sweat glads rupture under extreme physiological or emotional stress.
A Side Note
As I think about the intensity of Jesus’ prayer time and then contrast that with the depth of my own prayer time, I am convicted about how I should be praying.
Jesus was stressed knowing his crucifixion was about to take place. But even in the midst of such intense stress, Jesus had the Peace of God,
Luke 22:42, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
What Does Peace Really Mean
Peace is a state of mind, a focus of thought, calmness, tranquility. It encompasses a sense of feeling safe and secure. It is the knowledge that problems and difficult times will come, they will settle, and they will eventually pass. The key is in the ability to go through those times without allowing your emotions in those times to take over and control you.
That is much easier said than done, however, as we saw in last week’s Study Notes, the brain is amazing and through the neuroplasticity process, you can control how your brain responds to events and routine thoughts by telling your brain what to focus on. If you are an eternal optimist, your brain, by default, will always look for the good in every situation. For the pessimistic, the opposite is true, the brain will look for evidence to prove things are bad. It all comes down to what thoughts you feed your brain.
What Does the Peace of God Really Mean
Peace of God (aka Peace of Christ Jesus) is knowing God is omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (everywhere), and omniscient (all-knowing).
God will never leave you, you cannot be separated from him, nor will he ever stop loving you.
Hebrews 13:5b, I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Romans 8:38-39, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is also the understanding that all situations will offer a way for God to be glorified when we chose to focus on him, his love, and his promises.
Romans 8:28, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
1 Peter 4:10-11, As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Corinthians 10:31, So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
As we stay focused on him, he will lead us to ways that will bring glorify to him (God). He will give us a peace founded in knowing that even if our will is not granted, his plan will be done, and he will be glorified. That truth brings forth a peace we can’t really understand. It also leads us down a path which we may never fully understand, but we are confident that God does. It’s a peace of knowing he is in control. It’s knowing that he loves us, not for anything we did, but simply because he has chosen to love us and, most importantly, he has promised to never stop loving us.
And that, my friends, is the greatest foundation for having the Peace of God in all situations, no matter how stressful they may be.
Philippians 4:7, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
