Mona Selden writes daily devotions for her church, Marion Baptist, in south-central Virginia. She is co-host with her pastor on The Mosaic of Marion podcast. She is the author of two 31-day devotionals. Her writing and teaching are done with the desire to help others get to know God better through His Word. Mona’s husband is USAF Retired. They are enjoying their newly empty nest and have become grandparents for the first time.
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, ESV
Many of us know, and maybe even have memorized, these verses from Philippians. We know verse six because we know worries and anxieties, so we use it to remind us of what we ought to do—pray with thanksgiving. We also know verse seven because we need God’s peace. What we might not have thought about, though, is how the two verses are connected.
We know we should not be anxious or worried about anything. We know that God supplies everything we need (Matthew 6:25-34). And yet, worries and anxieties fill our heads and crowd our hearts. We watch the news and we become anxious about our safety. We look at our bank accounts and worry about how we are going to provide for our families or buy gas for our commute. The worries and anxieties can overwhelm us—even when we know we shouldn’t have them.
We also know that verse six tells us that the antidote to our worries and anxieties is prayer. We know we ought to be offering up to God our needs instead of worrying. We know we ought to be giving thanks for our blessings while we are asking God to take care of those worries. We know this—we do. So, we pray. But waiting for an answer is hard. And then we get an answer, and it is not what we hoped, making it hard to let go of those worries. Yes, prayer is the antidote, as verse six says, but our hearts and our minds need more.
That’s when we look at verse seven. We know the truths of this verse and so we pray for God’s peace. We ask for it for ourselves and for others. We even long for it when we are in the midst of a trial. But have we ever considered how that peace—God’s peace that we are unable to fully understand—can help us with our anxieties? The “and” in verse seven makes it clear that we receive the peace of God when we pray, offer thanks, and give our needs to God. Having God’s peace doesn’t mean that we don’t have the trials that cause the worries. It means we have the presence of Jesus during our trouble. We not only receive God’s peace, but it will “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s peace will stand as a sentinel at the door of our hearts and our minds, keeping those worries and those anxieties at bay. God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds to not allow the worries and anxieties to pass through. When anxiety threatens, we pray, and God’s peace stands guard so that anxiety cannot come in.
Philippians 4:6-7 gives us a directive to follow, but also a promise. When we follow the directive, we will receive the promise. No one is immune to worries and anxieties. But we can give them to God and then receive the promised peace standing guard over our hearts and our minds.
