The Presence of Peace: Anxiety (His Perfect Peace 4)
Anxiety is something that is common to everyone. This side of the fall it is part of what it means to be human. We get anxious about all kinds of things from appearance, health, lateness, money, relationships, future and the list could keep on going. Anxiety has an impact on our behaviour sometimes just in the little things and at other times in life changing ways.
The reason we are looking at anxiety is because it is often a huge obstacle to experiencing peace within. In this blog my aim is to point us to some of what the Bible has to say about the presence of peace in our lives and how that might speak to our feelings of anxiety. I fully appreciate that some deal with anxiety to a level which requires professional help – if that is you please do seek such help. However, in these brief words here I want to share some things that I hope will be an encouragement to us all.
The Bible has much to say about anxiety and what we are to do with it. I love the words of 1 Peter 5:7 which say: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. This side of eternity God never promises to eradicate our troubles and by implication our anxieties. We have a way of finding things to worry about! Living with anxiety is going to be a struggle for all of us to one level or another. But in our anxiety Jesus does not abandon us. In the words of Isaiah 43:2 we will pass through the waters and we will walk through the fire, but we will not be overwhelmed.
1. Knowing the God who knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 139):
My original intention in including this Psalm was purely for the verses near the end where David seems to affirm that anxious thoughts are a given: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts (Psalm 139:23). But when I looked further I realised that the entire Psalm spoke to our experience of anxiety. It does this because it is really a majestic reflection on the greatness of God and our subsequent response to that greatness. We might summarise the Psalm under the following headings:
- God knows us (v1-6) – He is omniscient / all knowing
- God surrounds us (v7-12) – He is omnipresent / everywhere
- God made us (v13-18) – He is omnipotent / Sovereign / all powerful
- God tests us (v19-24) – He is just and righteous
This Psalm includes the well known verses about how we are fearfully and wonderfully made. There is nothing about us, inside or outside, that God does not know and understand deeply.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14
We may well struggle with worry, but the words of this Psalm are an enormous comfort to us. It tells us that God knows us intimately. He knows our thoughts. He knows when we sit and when we rise. The truth is that there is nowhere that we can go to flee from His Spirit. He is everywhere, He knows everything and He is Sovereign over all. To whom can we go to with our anxiety? We should look no further than the God who know us inside out.
2. Experiencing the transcendent Peace of God (Philippians 4:4-9):
Paul also shares of his struggle with anxiety. In Philippians 2 he is speaking of his co-worker Epaphroditus who he says that he wants to send back to them. Why? So that (a) they might be glad and (b) that he might have have less anxiety. We might well imagine that Paul spent a fair bit of energy feeling anxious about those who he had helped come to faith. However, only two chapters later we have some of the greatest words about anxiety contained within the Bible.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
These verses come straight after Paul instructs the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always (v4). But now he tells them not to be anxious about anything. Its quite the statement given what we have already said about anxiety being common to all. The idea of not being anxious about anything sounds impossible. And yet, Paul still says it!
Paul tells them to take their anxiety to God by prayer, petition and with thankfulness. This they were to do in every situation regarding anything and everything. Rather than dwell on our anxious thoughts Paul is asking us to take them to God. We must learn to be wary of our anxious feelings because they can create their own sense of reality. Thoughts are powerful. I will always remember seeing a quote on the wall of a mental health unit which said:
“Don’t believe everything you think. Thoughts are just that – thoughts.”
At one extreme some ignore or supress their anxious thoughts. That’s not a healthy response because our thoughts are part of what it means to be made in God’s image. But at the other extreme, others allow their anxious thoughts to rule their lives. We live in a fallen world, and our thoughts are affected by that fallenness – they cannot therefore be trusted without question. Paul was right to instruct us to take them to God!
If we take our anxious thoughts to the Lord, then Paul promises us the peace of God (v7). Paul says its not something we can get our heads around because it transcends all understanding. He explains that this peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ. In a world where anxiety is having huge impact we desperately need the peace of God. If we want to experience this peace then Paul’s words here point us to prayer.
But there is a little more to this because in v8-9 Paul shows us how to guard our minds and hearts. Specifically, he explains how we should think about the things which are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. This is about being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2) and being ruthless in taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, here in v9 Paul encourages the Philippians to follow His example and put these things into practice. It wasn’t just some lofty theology to turn over in their minds, but something practical. He then assures them that the God of peace would be with them. I don’t know about you but it is so easy to find ourselves wrestling with our thoughts and in particular anxious thoughts about the things going on around us. But what an encouragement it is to think about how the peace of God can transform our situation when we take our anxiety to God in prayer.
3. Allowing the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15-17):
Our final verses come in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Paul has been describing the life of those who are in Christ. In chapter 3 he has been contrasting the things we must put on, with the things we must put off. But now in v15 Paul instructs us to let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15
Why? Because as the Body of Christ he says we were called to peace. In order for this to happen we have to choose the things that lead to peace. There is action required on our part to allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts and help us determine our steps. You will also notice the instruction to be thankful which is similar to what Paul said in Philippians 4. Thankfulness is part of the remedy for our anxiety – it helps us to take the focus away from our situation and onto the goodness of God! If you want to work on your anxiety thankfulness is a really good place to start!
Finally in v16 Paul turns to the message of Christ which he says we should let dwell among us richly. How might that happen? It seems clear to me that Paul is saying that we need to be regularly spending time in God’s Word so that the message of Christ begins to transform how we think about things and how we see the world. Paul says this will enable us to teach and admonish one another. It seems that there is an sense in which we must work together to enable one another to remain deeply in the Scriptures and grow in our knowledge of Christ.
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:16-17
Paul finishes these verses by telling us to do everything in the name of Christ and with thankfulness to the Father. These verses paint a profound picture of the kind of people who are ruled by the peace of Christ and indwelt by the message of Christ. What kind of difference would we see if that picture was representative of what was going on in our hearts?
Final thoughts
As I bring this blog to a close, can I just underline that I do not intend, in any shape or form to diminish the impact of anxiety in our lives. But I do want to encourage us all to cast our anxieties upon God. He is the one who knows us deeply. He knows our most personal and intimate thoughts inside out. He knows our anxieties, but He longs that we might take them to Him. In so doing we will experience the peace of God. This peace of God will help guard our hearts and minds in Christ, but there is work for us to do here in allowing the peace of God to rule in our hearts and allow the message of Christ to dwell in us richly.
I have often experienced how God can transform my heart, and in so doing my life. How? By transforming my thinking and my perspective on things. There have been many occasions through the years when anxiety has plagued my thoughts, but then there has been that moment when in bringing them under the Lordship of Christ, I have found a new perspective.
Thoughts are indeed just thoughts – living in a fallen world means that they are not always helpful. We must take every one of the captive and make them obedient to Christ.
See other posts in this series: