God’s Strange Invitation

 

You can have God’s peace if you want it or muddle through on your own!

the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep

your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:7 (KJV)

 Here’s what I see in this global pandemic that has affected all of us:

  1. We need peace … NOW! Anxiety and serious worry can be seen in the eyes of everyone. Having no peace in our lives can be like trying to live without sleeping.
  2. The peace we need cannot come from understanding the issue. That is why Paul made sure we understood that God’s prescription comes from a source other than our understanding.
  3. This is vital since all the understanding we’ve been given … all the bullet points of preparation, lists of what we’ll need to be safe and secure, prognosis on how long to expect this to last … all of it comes from people as worried and afraid as we are. They may (or may not) be experts, but few know anything about the kind of peace that the entire world needs right now.
  4. Since they are unsettled by much of what they report, they can’t offer us peace. That’s why we need to know what God thinks we should do in this virus attack. It’s why a steady barrage of unsettling news cannot bring freedom and peace. Instead it opens us up to physical, emotional and spiritual starvation.

Watch just enough news to be informed, but not so much that it transforms you into a fretting, nail-biting worrier. When you turn the TV off and see no hope anywhere, you’ve been ‘over-exposed’ to the wisdom of man. God is never pleased with that.

So how do we gain this peace that we need and want? Let the Apostle Paul, a man who knew how to survive and actually thrive in the most horrendous ‘pandemics’ ever, help us find a way to peace.

 

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises

shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it,

a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and

settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry

at the center of your life.” Philippians 4:6,7 The Message

First, quit wringing your hands and worrying. Just stop it! Second, you will not get through this well without praying! Note, “… let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God (not all your friends) know your concerns.”

 Through praise, your worries turn into prayer … then God adds that peace that passes understanding and suddenly, at the center of your life, where the worries used to hang out, is the sweet, comforting presence of Jesus.

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