The Peace of God

I made trip to the Capitol today to be a part of the Colorado Gives Day Rally. Unfortunately I was off on my schedule (I’m making that a habit) and was running later than anticipated. But it was great to see the west steps of the Capitol packed with nonprofits from Colorado preparing for a big day of online giving tomorrow. This Capitol rally for Colorado Gives Day is something that I gave the impetus to five years ago when I was serving in the State House. The event is held each year on the eve of Colorado Gives Day and has turned into a well attended and strongly supported effort by Colorado business, political and foundation community.

You can give online at www.coloradogives.org Funds are available that give matching grants based on how much each individual nonprofit raises. Some of my favorites causes are:  “Serve 6.8” (Timberline Church’s community outreach) Teen Challenge of the Rocky Mountains (Daniel Petruska from TC 180 Ministries is shown in the picture with me and Governor Hickenlooper) Sox Place (an outreach to homeless teens living on Denver’s streets) and Family Time Ministries (equipping parents to be proactive spiritual influences in the lives of their children) I should mention, Denver Street School (alternative Christian education for at-risk youth)

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…    “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. What  you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”  Philippians 4:7,9

In our lives we can experience peace. But beyond peace that means an “absence of conflict” or “a sense of well being” is the peace that comes from God. It is a peace that can be experienced in the midst of the storm, it is a sense of peace from God’s presence that doesn’t fit into the context or circumstances or our lives.

When I look over my life the greatest sense of the “peace of God the surpasses all understanding” was in the early years of our marriage. I had just resigned my teaching position to go into full-time ministry and Debbie was five months pregnant with our first child. In the middle of this transition during the month of July, when what was offered was going to happen in the fall, our Lead Pastor resigned. That meant all plans were on hold. I didn’t have a “paying” ministry job but had my teaching income through August and after that everything was in the “to be determined” category.

However in the midst of that time, I (I’m not sure about Debbie) had a tremendous sense of peace that we were in  God’s care and will and that He would take care of us. Not that we weren’t active and exploring options. In the final analysis a new Lead Pastor was selected; he invited us to stay and we became the first full-time salaried staff pastor in the history. This was the church that we would later serve as the Lead Pastor for almost 15 years.

When we look at the context of Philippians 4, it is important to see the “peace of God” tied to two important practices. Our prayer life and our thought life.

The promise of the peace of God, that is a “guard” over our hearts, is tied to this action,  “…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Phil. 4:6)

I like how that the warning against “anxiety” and “thanksgiving” serve as bookends to “praying about everything.” To me that signals a sense of confidence in God’s care and love for our lives that allows us to know God’s peace. Jesus as He prepared for the cross promised His disciples this dynamic peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

Paul then speaks to our thought life in Philippians 4:8 “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he talked about “taking our thoughts captive and bringing them into obedience to Christ.”   (2 Corinthians 10:5)

We can’t experience the peace of God if our thoughts are battling against us to bring us down. Paul then moves to the call to “put into practice.” The peace of God is tied to the “doing” part of our faith more than the “knowing.”

Oddly enough Debbie and I find ourselves in a similar situation as we were some 37 years ago, as we look at our future. There is much on the “to be determined” outlook of life. And while we don’t have the pressures of a young married couple starting out life expecting their first child, we are still looking to the Lord to direct our “next steps” and to provide for us as we move into the coming year.