Sunny&80What Is the “Peace That Surpasses All Understanding”?
Posted on May 31, 2021
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
What Is “Peace that Surpasses All Understanding”?
The Book of Philippians began as a thank you note for the gift the church at Philippi had sent Paul when hearing of his arrest. Paul was no stranger to pain and dire straits. His letters to the churches he helped establish were meant to bring hope, encouragement, and instruction. He wrote to them to clarify things the early Christian churches were confused about, and to help them remember they were moving away from the legalistic religious structure of the past to embrace the hope of Jesus Christ, which no one could ever earn or be deemed worthy of.
Paul himself tortured early Christians before he became a Christ follower. To be washed in grace and forgiveness changed the countenance of his heart. He wrote this letter to the Philippians on what we would call a modern-day house arrest. He was imprisoned, but at a home in which he was allowed to preach the gospel to all those who came to him, explains the NIV Study Bible.
“The peace of God is the opposite of anxiety. It is the tranquility that comes when believers commit all their cares to God in prayer and worry about them no more,” explains the NIV Study Bible Fully Revised Edition. Paul knew this peace. As he wrote to the Philippians, Paul’s genuine hope and peace in Christ is evident, despite his past as a persecutor of the church, the thorn he speaks of living with, and his present suffering. It’s a prayer we can blanket our lives with today when we need to cling to the peace of Christ:
The Staple (#jammed daily devo, day 267)
Posted on September 24, 2018
September #jammed: Free Grace.
Day 267: Calm in chaos.
“ There is no fear in love.” 1 John 4:18 
“How was your day?!” I routinely asked as my two daughters flung open the doors and clamored with chatter. As she set her book bag down and clicked her seatbelt, my older daughter suddenly became serious …
“My head really hurts…” and that’s when I caught sight of blood dripping down my sweet girls face.
“OH MY GOODNESS, BRIANNE!!!!” I reacted, which sent her calm demeanor into a frantic set of questions…
“What -what is it- is it bad- can you see it?”
When we prayed on the way to the ER, my purpose was to level the emotion in the car with calm. With peace in knowing that we don’t always understand His plan, and reminders that He’s good …His plans for us are good …and He loves us. A love that is so strong that when we cry out He hears every word. He is there, with us.
He was there in the car that day, as our evening was re-routed from dance class to the ER.
It was bad. Staple in the head bad.
When our playlist gets interrupted, we need to steer our thoughts to a solid plan of action.
- Take control of the initial reaction. Somewhere in that heart of hers, my girl found the courage to pick herself back up off of the floor after her head slammed into the metal fire extinguisher box, and muster up enough composure to make it to the car pick line. Take control of the reaction and replace it with calm action.
- Get to safe arms, fast. In her case, that was mom in the car pick up line right outside. The love we’ve built has bridged a trust in her heart that she can navigate up and over just about anything to get to me, counting on me to rescue her. It’s our goal, as parents, to eventually point that bridge right to God. Run fast to Him before our feelings make us frantic.
- Trust our circumstances in the hands of Love. She sat on the ER bed with her legs crossed as usual, and patiently waited for the cottontail atop her head to numb the hurt. When the time came to put the staple in, she just wanted my hand. When we realize our lives are in God’s hands, we start to understand that He will get us through anything …even if it’s home to Him.
New hardware in place, she looked at the doctor and asked,
“Can I dance with this in my head?”
“Well, sure,” he answered …“when is dance?”
“Right now,” she stated matter of factly, “I’m late.”
(Insert room full of laughter…)
Father, Praise You for brave little ones. Thank You for the lessons that You teach us about Your love through their lives. Forgive us for letting fear kidnap our focus on You when calamity strikes, and help us to breathe deeply into Your love when unexpected hardship happens. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!
#greatgrace17
Happy Stapling,
Megs
Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.
The Staple (#jammed daily devo, day 267)
Posted on September 24, 2017
September #jammed: Free Grace.
Day 267: Calm in chaos.
“ There is no fear in love.” 1 John 4:18
“How was your day?!” I routinely asked as my two daughters flung open the doors and clamored with chatter. As she set her book bag down and clicked her seatbelt, my older daughter suddenly became serious …
“My head really hurts…” and that’s when I caught sight of blood dripping down my sweet girls face.
“OH MY GOODNESS, BRIANNE!!!!” I reacted, which sent her calm demeanor into a frantic set of questions…
“What -what is it- is it bad- can you see it?”
When we prayed on the way to the ER, my purpose was to level the emotion in the car with calm. With peace in knowing that we don’t always understand His plan, and reminders that He’s good …His plans for us are good …and He loves us. A love that is so strong that when we cry out He hears every word. He is there, with us.
He was there in the car that day, as our evening was re-routed from dance class to the ER.
It was bad. Staple in the head bad.
When our playlist gets interrupted, we need to steer our thoughts to a solid plan of action.
- Take control of the initial reaction. Somewhere in that heart of hers, my girl found the courage to pick herself back up off of the floor after her head slammed into the metal fire extinguisher box, and muster up enough composure to make it to the car pick line. Take control of the reaction and replace it with calm action.
- Get to safe arms, fast. In her case, that was mom in the car pick up line right outside. The love we’ve built has bridged a trust in her heart that she can navigate up and over just about anything to get to me, counting on me to rescue her. It’s our goal, as parents, to eventually point that bridge right to God. Run fast to Him before our feelings make us frantic.
- Trust our circumstances in the hands of Love. She sat on the ER bed with her legs crossed as usual, and patiently waited for the cottontail atop her head to numb the hurt. When the time came to put the staple in, she just wanted my hand. When we realize our lives are in God’s hands, we start to understand that He will get us through anything …even if it’s home to Him.
New hardware in place, she looked at the doctor and asked,
“Can I dance with this in my head?”
“Well, sure,” he answered …“when is dance?”
“Right now,” she stated matter of factly, “I’m late.”
(Insert room full of laughter…)
Father, Praise You for brave little ones. Thank You for the lessons that You teach us about Your love through their lives. Forgive us for letting fear kidnap our focus on You when calamity strikes, and help us to breathe deeply into Your love when unexpected hardship happens. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!
#greatgrace17
Happy Stapling,
Megs
Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.
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