I long for peace. One definition says a quiet calm state of mind. So often my mind is a jumbled mess of scattered thoughts. My mind can feel like what my desk currently looks like- a disaster (stuff everywhere, long to do lists etc.) I long to experience God’s peace.
“Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”- This Bible verse is found in the book of Philippians 4:6-7.
I have experienced this peace before. It is unlike anything other. It is like a soothing blanket of calm placed over me. I’m at rest. My heart is not anxious. My thoughts are not consumed with worry. I will share a story on that later.
This verse says there are 2 things we must do to receive this peace:
- PRAY – it says to pray about everything. I need to do this instead of worrying.
- THANK God for all he has done. I would have so much more peace in my life if I would stop to be grateful. Whatever it is that I am worrying about, flip it and think on it from a thankful perspective.
I did not give the situation any time to stew or fester or grow. I allowed no what ifs to grow in my mind. I halted it by first turning to prayer. I did not allow myself to make crazy assumptions. I NEVER do this. This reaction is not my current norm. I prefer to make myself sick with worry. But I pray this becomes my new norm.
After turning to prayer my heart was totally guarded.
My heart was protected from unnecessary stress.
My heart was saved from what ifs.
My heart was rescued from worry.
My mind was protected from consuming thoughts of dread.
My mind was free to relax and think on other good/pure and lovely things.
God reminded me to think on things that are honorable (Philippians 4:8) and good not this thing that had the potential to weigh me down.
I had an indescribable peace wash over me. I had a feeling that God is in control and not me. This normally could freak me out since I like to be in control. But instead I was able to rest and be grateful that this was in the Lord’s hands. I don’t want control of this. I would rather wait and trust with it.
So I had wrote this post this morning while doing my SOAP journaling. While I was typing it up this afternoon some worry creeped into my head. I began to wrestle over it. I began to make assumptions, of course they are always the worst assumptions. I literally began to feel the weight of this worry in my body especially my arms. My heart began to race as I thought on it. And I said to myself (I talk to myself a lot), “Maybe I should take this advice that I just learned this morning.” So I did. I stopped and prayed about the thing I was fretting over. I thanked God for this person and then decided to release it in prayer. And the peace came. It is definitely not always this easy but I think as I train myself to do this more it will help. I want it to become a habit to first pray instead of fret.
Kimi's Corner 