Peace of God
I remember hearing the phrase “guard your heart” many times as a kid. As a young girl this was often said to me about dating, which I did not find too applicable for myself as a 13-year-old uninterested in dating (the only prospects for me at the time were smelly middle school boys). As I got older, I was told to “guard my heart” against false idols, temptations, and fears. I did find this applicable as a 20-something-year-old… until I realized how difficult it is to guard my own heart out of my own strength. The more people told me to “guard my heart” with no explanation, the more confused I was on what it even meant.
God’s promise
During my senior year of college, as I considered all the possibilities of what I could do after graduation, I memorized Philippians 4:6-7 with a mentor to help when I felt overwhelmed by uncertainty. These verses are part of the benediction in this letter written to the Philippian church. Verses 6-7 say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The promise in the verses is that prayer will result in divine tranquility. Even more, God’s peace exceeds what we can conceive. To be clear, a prayer usually does not result in a quick fix for anxiety. When we open our eyes, the unknown still exists, numerous possibilities linger, and uncertainty of what to do with it all haunts our minds.
Yet, in a beautiful contradiction, amidst all of this chaos flows the peace of God. The Church does not find its ultimate peace inside or outside of itself. Christians find ultimate peace, which stands watch over their hearts and minds, in God.
God’s peace
Temptations, fears, doubts, and uncertainty are ingrained into life. Decisions about where to move, which job to take, who to marry, when to have kids, and what to eat for dinner each night can be tiring (I can’t be the only one who goes back and forth on whether I should go to Chick-Fil-A for the 10th time in a week). But as uncertainties remain before, during, and after our prayers, God’s peace surrounds us with undeniable assurance.
The result or answer is not what brings about peace. I eventually did decide what to do after college graduation. But right as I solidified a decision to move states away from my home and attend seminary, more doubts flooded my mind. “How will I find community in a new place? Am I even qualified for this? What if I chose the wrong thing and now have to live with the consequences?”
Results and answers do not give us divine peace. As we learn the answer to one question, another question will come up. As one problem is solved, another problem will arise. Crossing a decision, issue, or dinner plan off the list may leave us with a temporary peace of mind, but ultimately it is not fulfilling.
As the Church, may we remember that offering thanks and petitions to God gives us steadfast peace. May we not lean into answers for our uncertainty but lean into God despite our uncertainty. And may we not “guard our hearts” on our own against temptations and fears. May the peace of God guard our hearts, and minds, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Savannah Green is a seminary student and has done summer missions in New England. You can follow her writing on Instagram @savygreen, her blog Words in the Crevice, and find her most recently published book Seaway: sea chants of poetry to navigate the way on Amazon.
