The Letter to the Philippians: The Peace No One Understands

New Testament: Philippians

Some people think it’s their job to worry. The plane won’t get off the ground without their help. By the sheer force of their worrying, they keep the tornado from their neighborhood. Worrying keeps things stable. (Ha!)

“To worry” means to strangle and that’s what it does to our minds every day. To varying degrees, we all let our fears take over our thought life—which is why the Lord regularly addressed our fretful default. He said:

In Matthew 6, Don’t be anxious about your life (v.24) or about tomorrow (v. 35) 

In John 14, Let not your heart be troubled.

And on the Sunday afternoon after the Lord died, the disciples gathered in the (triple-locked) room where they had eaten the last supper, and Jesus appeared among them and said . . .  Peace.

Just imagine what kind of mess their minds were in. In this moment of such surprise and grace, Jesus wished them shalom—complete calm, inside and out—the kind of peace Philippians 4:6-7 talks about.

Don’t be anxious or worried. Instead, let your worries become prayers. Let God know what’s on your mind. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will settle you down. The peace of God that no one understands will run guard duty around your heart and your mind.

The true and the beautiful thing is that Jesus cares about the things we think about at 3:43 am.

This is the kind of Savior we have. In the scary dark of our swirling thought-life, He wants us to have shalom.

At the root of shalom is the hope of being whole and complete. Peace is just the easy way to describe it. Nothing is missing or broken. You are satisfied, living the life God intended for you.

Shalom is practical, too. If we’re hungry or stressed out, we can’t have shalom. Neither can we carry a grudge. We deny ourselves shalom when we long for something we can’t have or refuse ourselves what we actually need (like mercy or rest). We deny ourselves shalom when we sin and refuse to turn around.

We all want this shalom but no one completely understands it. Ultimately, the only place we find shalom is when we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He promises to keep us in complete shalom, when we depend on Him. (Isaiah 26:3)

Jesus is the God of the way things are supposed to be, where everything is working as He intended. He is the only one we can trust to make that happen. He is the promised, Prince of Peace, who meets us in the dark at 3 a.m.

Next: In the beginning, Jesus created . . .

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.  Philippians 4:6-7

Fast Facts about the Letter to the Philippians

In a word: Joy 

In a sentence: 

A warm, loving letter expressing joy, encouragement and thanks, encouraging the body of Christ to remain continue strong in their faith in Jesus Christ.

Written by Paul in a Roman prison around 60 a.d. to the Philippian believers.

Key verse: 

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Philippians 2:1-2

Glimpses of Jesus: 

In Philippians, Jesus is our joy, the Son of God who humbled Himself and suffered for us.

5 verses from Philippians to highlight in your Bible:

·       For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

·       He who began a good work in you . . . Philippians 1:6

·       Do nothing from selfish ambition . . . but in humility count others more significant Philippians 2:3-4

·       . . . At the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . Philippians 2:5-11

·       Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice . . . Philippians 4:6-13