It’s no stretch of the imagination to say that we’re living in a bit of a storm right now. We exited last summer with hopefulness around the pandemic, only to be faced with another variant of the coronavirus and another round of restrictions. What’s God’s heart for his people during times like these? What does it mean to have faith when the pressure is on?
I think during moments like this, God’s heart is that we would have peace. When situations feel unmanageable and the future is so uncertain, I think God calls us to be people of peace. Paul in Philippians 4:1-9 talks a bit about peace, and there lessons to learn from this.
In verse 1, he encourages his brothers and sisters in Philippi to “stand firm in the Lord.” The picture of standing firm here is not one of laying back and being passive. In order to stand firm we need to stand our ground, we need to make an active effort to be stable and unmovable. To stand firm in the Lord requires effort, it requires character. In the same way, the peace that God gives–the kind of peace that can last during a storm–is one that requires effort and character. It’s a peace we need to learn, practice, and grow in.
So how do we grow in this peace? Paul gives us some clues in Philippians 4:4-9.
In verse 4, Paul encourages the people to “rejoice in the Lord always.” This is so important he repeats it, “I will say it again: rejoice!” We grow in peace by rejoicing in the Lord. I think we especially grow when we praise God and rejoice during the storms in life and the most difficult circumstances we face. Paul himself was in prison when he wrote Philippians. Yet he encourages us to rejoice in the Lord always, even in the worst of times.
In verse 6, Paul says to not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, with thanksgiving, to present our requests to God. We grow in peace when we pray from a place of thanksgiving, rather than a place of anxiety. For all of us, I’m sure there have been times when we’ve prayed because we were anxious or nervous, and it’s good to turn to prayer in these situations. But even during times when we’re worried, there is something to be said about beginning our prayers with thanksgiving. Presenting our prayers to God in a spirit of thanksgiving and praise can change our prayers, and change us. Starting with thankfulness in difficult circumstances can bring a deep peace that only comes from God.
Verse 7 talks about how the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The next question is, guard from what? I think one thing the peace of God guards us from is ungodly fear. When we’re on social media or watching the news, it doesn’t take very long to find out about things others think we should be afraid of. Uncertainty and fear seem like they’re at an all time high.
But our call as the people of God is to fear God first, before fearing anything else. Our highest honor, our best reverence and attention, needs to go to God first. We need to fear God more than anything the world thinks we should fear. This doesn’t mean that our fears and concerns automatically disappear though. Just because we fear God doesn’t mean we should put our heads in the sand, or act in foolish ways. Rather, we show we fear God when we allow him to be the highest priority in our lives. To fear God is to listen to God first and be obedient in all we do and say. The fear of God needs to be much bigger than the fear we have of anything else.
In verse 8, Paul says to “think about such things”–things that are true, admirable, pure, right, excellent, etc. There are so many things that fight for our attention these days. Whether it’s busyness, habits, distractions, work, family, etc., everything seems to demand attention. It can become very easy to be absorbed by our day to day concerns, to the point where we no longer have a sensitivity to God and what God is saying. Our hearts can become hard and it can be difficult to hear God, simply because there are so many other things that demand our attention.
But God wants to remind us that we need to remain focused on him, we need to think about those things that are on God’s heart–what is true, admirable, pure, right, excellent, etc. How do we do that? How do we remain focused on God? We need to actively resist and battle enticement and distraction in our lives. One of the best ways to do this is through fasting. When we fast, we hone in on those things that are unduly stealing our attention from God. We give them up and actively pursue God instead, which softens our hearts and makes us more sensitive to his voice.
God’s heart for us is to have peace during the storms in life, but this peace only comes when we put into practice what we’re learning, as Paul instructs in verse 9. What do we need to put into practice? Standing firm in the Lord, rejoicing in God during the storm, praying with thanksgiving, fasting, and hearing God. This is how we grow in the peace of God, the kind of peace that can sustain us during the storms in life.