Philippians 4:7 - "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
There's a lot in life that I don't understand.
Most recently, I don't understand how driving cars in a circle can be taken so seriously that people lose their lives not only when they're in the car racing but also when they get out of the car when they're done. May God have mercy on Kevin Ward, Jr., his family, Tony Stewart, his family, and all who are dismayed, disheartened, and confused by Kevin Ward's recent death.
I also don't understand how a guy who made us all laugh from our bellies as Mork and Mrs. Doubtfire and U.S. Air Force radio disc jockey, Adrian Cronauer, in "Good Morning Vietnam," how could he, Robin Williams, be dead as a grave consequence of depression?
So much I don't understand.
So much.
But praise God that the one thing I don't understand the most is one of God's greatest gifts to us all. I don't understand how God can give us peace in the face of tragic deaths and accidents and so many other things that life throws at us.
And, as it turns out, it's a-okay that we don't understand how God can give us peace in the face of so many other things that life throws at us because God's peace is bigger. God's peace is bigger than Kevin Ward's death. God's peace is bigger than Robin Williams' death. God's peace is bigger than your death and my death. God's peace is bigger than my life and yours. And God's peace is bigger than our lack of understanding about any of the things we don't understand.
God's peace is bigger than we could ever understand.
That's why you don't get God's peace with your head. You don't get God's peace with your mind. Instead you do get God's peace with your heart. You get God's peace through faith. You get God's peace through faith that, though I don't understand something, God does, and God's on it. He's got it, whatever it is, he's got it in his hands, ya know, those hands that he stretched out through Jesus to embrace a world in love, even though our world showed God that we don't understand his love, which is why we nailed his love to a tree, namely, we just flat out don't understand God's love. It boggles the mind; God's love does. But it also quiets the mind that believes God's love. His big love. His love that's bigger than our "whatever-it-is-we-don't-understand."
So, give it to him. You know what it is. It's your problems. It's whatever you don't understand that's troubling your mind. Give it to him.
And in exchange for your troubles, he'll give you his peace.
Pretty good deal! Don't ya think? Uh, no, on second thought, don't think. Just believe. Because it's true.
Philippians 4:7 - "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
No comments:
Post a Comment