Hello, I’m Adam Knapp from All People’s Church, and I’m with you today on God Today. I want to look at the subject of the peace of God. In our world, everything around us, everything that’s going on, does everything in its power to strip from us peace. We can turn on the television network and all of the news will say all of the terrible things going on. Social media continues to blitz us with information on top of information. And yet as believers, we’re supposed to be stewards of the peace of God.
Paul writes about this in Philippians 4:4-7, and he gives a recipe so that you can steward the peace of God that you’ve been given. And in verse four, he says, “Rejoice in the Lord in all things. Again, I say rejoice.” And so the first part of that is to begin rejoicing in God. I don’t know if today you’ve rejoiced yet, but begin to rejoice in the things that God’s done for you, the good things He’s done, His testimony in your life. Then he says, “Let your reasonableness be known to all men.” He literally is saying, be reasonable about how you look at things. Sometimes we have to govern our own emotions. We have to calm ourselves down.
Then he says, “Be anxious for nothing.” That’s a command out of Scripture. Right now, if you’re struggling with anxiety, realize that that is not God’s portion or purpose for your life. And then he goes into a long discourse where he says, “But by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” So here he says that the last part, the fourth part of that recipe is thanksgiving. Sometimes we lose our peace because we’re not thankful for the circumstances we’re in. We’re not thankful for the things that are going on that are negative and positive. And so if we bring that into the discussion, it adds an element that brings all of these four things together to produce the peace of God. And then he says that “Because of these things that you would have the peace of God that surpasses understanding.”
So maybe right now, you’re out there and there are things that are chaotic in your life. There are circumstances that seem out of your control. There are frustrations, there’s worry, there’s anger, there’s sadness. And you’re not sure exactly what to do. I want to remind you – first rejoice in the Lord. Then take a moment, catch your breath, and let reasonableness control your heart. Don’t let anxiety ruin and reign in your life. And then finally begin to thank God for the things He’s done. Even the things He’s yet to do. If you’ll do these things, the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
I want to take a moment and pray with you right now and trust that God’s going to begin to bring peace to your heart and bring assurance to your soul. Father, I thank You. I thank You that those that are watching now have an opportunity to enter into Your peace, to trust You in all of their circumstances, to rejoice in You for Your goodness, to remain reasonable and to control anxiety and to not allow it to rule and reign.
And I ask, God, that You would help them to be thankful to thank You for the things that You’ve done that are good, and for the hard times and the difficulties, knowing that when we enter into these things, we can trust You that You’re going to bring peace that surpasses understanding, and You’re going to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I thank You for this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Again, I’m Adam Knapp and this is God Today.