Peace is mentioned 429 times in the Bible. Why do you suppose the Lord emphasized it so much? Well since anxiety is the number one mental illness worldwide, it is logical to reason that the Lord who loves us more than we can ever know doesn’t want us to be anxious and wants to reassure us, His children, that there is nothing to be anxious about.
Prior to making my decision to follow Christ I did not have peace in my life. One of my favorite Bible verses now is Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. What is peace? Peace in this passage refers to a condition of our hearts and minds. Interestingly that is where spiritual warfare is primarily fought, and its number one manifestation is worry.
Everyone desires to have peace in their lives. I love the quiet and tranquility and freedom from turmoil that can only come from our Lord and Savior. Jesus made the distinction between His peace and the world’s vacillating peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives” (John 14:27). The world’s peace depends on happiness with our current situation: if things are going well, then we feel peaceful; when things go awry however, the peace quickly dissipates. It’s like a fleeting bird; one minute it’s there and the next it’s gone. God’s peace is everlasting.
Jesus said it is a sin to worry, but most people worry anyway. I’m not in that category. I decided a long time ago to just accept my lot in life and take the good and bad in stride. This is not to say I like it when family or friends suffer or die, or when things go awry in my own life. It is to say that I trust the Lord when He states that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord, and as a result I enjoy His peace through His promise to guard my heart and my mind.
Imagine two cancer patients; one is treated and goes into complete remission and proclaims, “Everything is all right, I have the peace of God in my heart!” Another cancer patient who is dying and in pain calmly says, “Everything is all right. I have the peace of God in my heart.” That my friends defines “the peace of God that passes all understanding.” Faith is where the peace is derived and in particular verses like John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God’s peace is so powerful that, unlike what the world offers, we can know peace at all times. It helps if we develop ETERNAL THINKING. We spend but 80 years on average on this beautiful planet and then an eternity of zillions upon zillions of never-ending years in heaven with the Lord Jesus.
What me worry?
Bah!
2 Tim 4:7
For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.