PART Five
A Recipe for Peace
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7
Cooler temperatures
Warm pots of homemade soup
Boots instead of flip-flops and jeans instead of capris
What’s not to like about fall?
It used to be my favorite time of the year.
Now, I hate September.
From the end of July until the end of the year, the second half of the year is a slow count-down until the anniversary of Brandon’s death and then more holidays and another birthday without him. It’s a mental and emotional battle, one that leaves me restless and depressed.
This blog is the last in a series based upon my 2016 study of Philippians. But, as I reread Philippians 4 and looked at my notes, I couldn’t help but think how very applicable God’s word is at every stage of our lives.
In 2016, I wrote about this chapter.
What can I do to put this into practice? Don’t let worry steal my joy—pray, pray, pray. Tell God what I need, but trust Him to do what’s best. Thank Him for what He has already done… I can tell God what I need…and then I need to leave it with Him, claiming joy and peace because He is in control, thinking about good and right things instead of concentrating on the negative and bad… God can help us be content and give us strength for every circumstance in our lives… With God, we can live as He calls us to live regardless of our circumstances…I need to remember Paul’s encouragement and not quit trying. I need to quit excusing my own bad behavior and work towards providing a better example. I need to trust that God will give me what I need (rest, strength, patience, love, joy) and act in faith.
Hmmm, who would have thought that God would use my own words to preach a sermon to myself so many years later?
Peace is elusive for many of us for a variety of reasons. I’m not about to suggest that gaining it is easy. For those of us who have Christ as our Savior, peace is available. It’s expected, but it’s not necessarily easy. I think Paul knew that. So, in his final words to the church of Philippi, he laid out a recipe for it, a plan to follow when peace seems somewhere beyond our reach.
Pray about everything. (verse 6)
End your disagreements. (verse 2)
Ask for what you need. (verse 6)
Count your blessings. (verse 6)
Engage joyfully. (verse 4)
Fix your thoughts. (verse 8)
Usurp worries. (verse 6)
Live what you believe. (Verses 1 and 9)
Like any good recipe, Paul includes steps that we can take to gain peace, but he also remembers that the quality of the ingredients counts. So, in verse 8, he gets very specific. He tells Christians what exactly we need to think about in order to yield peacefulness in our hearts and lives. He writes, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Grief and depression are as much struggles of the mind as they are struggles of emotions. In these verses, Paul reminds us that if we want to change the way we feel, we have to change the way we think.
One fall one of the boys kept talking about seeing Jesus on the cross in the cornbread. I was baffled as to what he was talking about, but I really wanted to find that cornbread. Such things can sell for a fortune on Ebay. Anyway, it took me a while, but I finally realized that he was referring to a scarecrow he had seen in the corn maze we had visited. That story makes me smile, and it reminds me that so often how we view life is all a matter of perspective.
For most people, a scarecrow is just a floppy sack of clothes stuffed with hay, a representation of fall, something to frighten the birds. But to my son, who had been learning about the sacrifice that was paid for our sins, he saw a representation of the cross.
It’s hard for me to see any good from my son’s death. It’s hard for me to have positive thoughts about such a dark and deeply painful time in my life. But this week’s lesson convicts me to try harder. If a child can see Jesus in the face of a scarecrow, surely, I can see Him even in my sorrow.
True
Honorable
Right
Pure
Lovely
Admirable
Excellent and worthy of praise…
This is the recipe; these are the ingredients. If I want peace, if you want peace, if the world wants peace, we need to think on these things.
August 2, 2020
Dear God,
I find myself struggling more than ever. I constantly feel tired—physically, emotionally and mentally… even just being around people—even people I love—wears me out these days… I’m just so sad, Lord, and angry, and this world, this chaos we live in, only makes it worse... The loss, the sadness, the confusion, anger, hate, division, are palpable. It is so thick that it chokes me, Lord. It is so heavy that I cannot breathe. I do not want to breathe… God, I am already weak, beaten down, ready to withdraw into my own little bubble until You come and take me home...
August 20, 2020
I am not at peace. Forgive me, God. I’m sure that my lack of peace and joy is no one’s fault but my own. Yet, I am only human, God, and I cannot do this on my own. My mind is a battlefield. My heart is at war. I live with a constant ache, consistent questions, and complex doubts… Lord, all I know to do is to ask you to help me. Help me, Lord.
Amen
Devotional Challenge: In the coming week, reread the book of Philippians one more time.
Click here for a free devotional journal page that you can download or print to help you remember Paul’s recipe to be peaceful.