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. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 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. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
—Philippians 4:6-9 (NLT)
God’s peace is wonderfully supernatural and is greater than our human understanding. It comes when we allow God to take our worries, and it lasts as long as our thoughts remain true, right, and uplifting.
Worry seems to be what we do best. Life comes with fears and problems and struggles, and sickness. The list goes on and on. When we focus on what bothers us instead of praising God for His faithfulness to take care of us, our problems grow in dimension and become overwhelming. We lose the right perspective when we don't fix our thoughts on good, honorable, and pure things.
God tells us to quit worrying and to pray instead about everything—to tell our Father what we need and thank Him for taking care of it. We are to praise Him though we may not see His provision. It is as real as He is. Trusting God, Paul says, is the way to experience His peace in any crisis. His peace will exceed anything we can understand. When we live in His peace, our thoughts are safe from worry over our issues. Our minds will dwell on the hope God inspires and will settle on what is excellent and worthy of our praise.
Put into practice what I have taught you, Paul says. Choose to pray about everything and to praise God for His provision. Determine to think on God’s best instead of your worst. God’s peace is your promise, and it lasts when these truths are habitual. Trust God with all your heart. Don't depend on your understanding. When you are in control, you have no answers. When God is at the helm, you are not responsible for the outcome. He is.
©2020 Lynn Lacher
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