Prescription for Peace Conclusion

In the previous four blogs, we have identified three major roadblocks to finding the peace of God in our lives: guilt, worry, and fear.

We've discovered God's prescription for peace in Philippians 4, It works every time, in every case, if applied moment by moment according to the instructions of our Great Physician:

• Confess your sins.
• Trust Jesus.
• Seek God's Kingdom first (Matt. 6:33).
• Rejoice in the Lord (v. 4)
• Don't worry, but pray (v. 6)
• Keep your mind fixed on Jesus, who will guide you through the storms of life (v. 7,9).
• Dwell on good, helpful thoughts (v. 8)
• Replace guilt, worry, and fear with meditation on the Word of God and prayer.
• Remember we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (v. 13) and
• God has promised to supply all our needs according to His endless riches (v. 19).

Before we leave this topic, perhaps we need to discuss what the peace of God is NOT. It is not the absence of conflict. Instead, it is a condition of self-assurance unperturbed by the storms of life.

An artist was commissioned to paint a picture depicting peace. When his painting was unveiled, people expected to see an idyllic scene. It was not what they had expected. They gasped.

Stormy Seas Courtesy of Google.com

The artist had painted a raging storm on a rocky coast. Dark, racing clouds obscured the sun. Angry waves crashed against jagged cliffs. Violent winds flung spray and spume against the rocks.

In the center of all that mayhem was a tiny cleft in the storm-battered cliff in which sat a tiny bird sheltered from the raging storm all around him.

That is the kind of peace God gives. He is our shelter in the time of storm. He is our rock and our salvation.

"The Lord is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble" (Psalm 46:1). 

"He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him" (Psalm 91:2).

"I am trusting you, O Lord...My future is in your hands." (Psalm 31:14, 15).

Note: Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright c 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.