Got Peace?

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 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.”

About two weeks ago, ‘Do not be anxious about anything’ kept running through my head, and for good reason. I was stressing out over things that God had under control, and I was worrying about problems that only existed in my mind. I knew He had been leading me down a particular path, but I had been taking steps in fear, not faith.

As I thought about the words that had been running through my head, I remembered the rest of the passage and realized that there is a progression; let me show you what I mean.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! From the start, I should be looking back on God’s faithfulness in my life, and that should be the fuel feeding my joy. If I start and remain here, how much better my days will be!

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord in near. If I really believe that God is present and taking care of the situation, I won’t be aggressively trying to fix my problems on my own; I will be waiting on Him to show me what to do.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. This is the hard part for me. I didn’t realize until recently that I get very anxious, and this happens when all the ‘what ifs’ and worst case scenarios surface and take over my mind. But God wants me to hand them over to Him, and He wants me to do it with a heart rejoicing in His goodness.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And the end result; peace beyond comprehension! This is the ultimate defense for my heart, and it’s not impossible to attain. It’s a discipline, and the end result will be well worth the effort.

I can blame my introverted nature. I can blame social anxiety. But as a Christian, this kind of behavior is not honoring to God. How many times has He proved to me that when He leads me down a path, He will see me safely to the destination? And how many times has He proved to me that the destination is better than the place I am currently standing?

Just a quick note: I have had this blog for two years. Two years! Where did that time go? I was so scared to start it. I had no idea where this blog would take me, but I think it’s a good example of what I talked about in this post! To those of you who have joined me on the journey, THANK YOU so much! Your support and encouragement means so much to me.