Peace in the Storm
It’s funny, when we are dealing with chaos and struggles, we often hear others tell us to guard our hearts and minds. Sometimes, it can sound as though whatever we are listening to or looking at is both the cause of and solution to our problems. But the Bible reminds us that some things cannot be accomplished by might or by power, but only by His Spirit.
So then, how do we get peace? Let’s go back to that first verse, the one people quote a portion of all the time.
Philippians 4:7 (KJV) reads, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Oh man, when you are in the middle of a storm, don’t you just want that peace to fall over you? I’m not talking about the quiet that happens in the middle of the storm when you know there is still more to come, like when you are standing in the eye of a hurricane. I mean the calm after the storm, when the sun begins to shine again, you see a rainbow in the sky, and there is finally hope that the worst is behind you.
This verse troubled me for far too long because I used to read the Bible verse by verse instead of reading the entire section or chapter for context. It plagued my mind. What does the peace of God actually feel like? Why haven’t I felt that way in such a long time? If the peace of God surpasses all understanding, how do I even attain it?
Because I need that peace. I need it after dealing with a death, financial struggles, a fight with my spouse or kids, or even a rough day at work that I can’t seem to leave at work. There are so many things we go through in life that leave us desperately searching for a moment of peace.
But did you know God actually tells us what to do right before this verse?
Philippians 4:4–6 (KJV) reads:
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
God doesn’t leave us guessing. Before Paul tells us about the peace that surpasses all understanding, he gives us instructions for what to do with ourselves, our thoughts, and our worries.
Rejoice in the Lord
First, rejoice in the Lord always. Please don’t find yourself acting like the Israelites in the wilderness, complaining and moaning while forgetting what God has already done. Rejoicing doesn’t mean pretending your storm isn’t happening. It doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to hurt, cry, or acknowledge that something is difficult. Rejoicing is making the deliberate choice to remember who God is even while your circumstances are telling you to focus on everything that is wrong.
When we rejoice, we shift our attention. Instead of allowing the storm to become bigger than everything else in our minds, we remind ourselves that God is still God in the middle of it. The same God who was faithful before the storm is faithful while we are standing in it.
Choose Gentleness in the Storm
Then Paul says, “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” This speaks to gentleness, reasonableness, patience, and a calmness of character. Even during the storm, our lives should still reflect the fruit of the Spirit.
That part is a little harder.
I’ve been through my own storms before I understood this, and I know how difficult it is to be intentional about your response when everything around you feels chaotic. One of my favorite worship songs reminds me, “When chaos is around me, I’ll still choose to say, Lord, I thank You for every way You made.”
We can read the first instruction and think, Okay, easy enough. I can put on some worship music, lift my hands, and rejoice. But being calm, gentle, and reasonable while my world feels like it is falling apart? I wasn’t even sure I knew how to do that.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
Thankfully, the answer is right there in verse 6.
Take All of It to God
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Take it to God. All of it. Lay it down, and don’t keep picking it back up.
It isn’t enough to pray, “Here You go, God. It’s Yours now,” and then spend the rest of the day worrying about it, replaying conversations, imagining everything that could go wrong, analyzing every detail, and trying to figure out how you are going to fix it yourself. We can say we gave something to God while still carrying it everywhere we go.
“Be careful for nothing” is also translated as “Do not be anxious about anything.” That means surrender requires more than mentioning the problem in prayer. There comes a point when we have to release our need to control the outcome.
Paul tells us to do this through prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Prayer brings us into communication with God. Supplication is when we humbly and earnestly bring our specific needs before Him. Then comes thanksgiving. We thank Him because our trust is not rooted in knowing exactly how everything will turn out. Our trust is rooted in knowing who God is.
1 Corinthians 15:57 (KJV) says, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We may not know exactly how every storm will end, but we know who is with us in the storm. We know who holds us, who hears us, and who has already secured our ultimate victory through Jesus Christ.
Then Comes the Peace
And this is the part I had missed for so long.
Then comes verse 7.
I wanted the peace of verse 7 without paying attention to the instructions in verses 4–6.
Paul tells us to rejoice. He tells us how to carry ourselves. He tells us not to be consumed by anxiety. He tells us to pray, bring our specific needs before God, and do it with thanksgiving. Then he tells us, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
When you have truly given something to God, you no longer have to allow that storm to consume every available space in your mind and heart. The problem may still exist. The circumstances may not have changed yet. You may still be waiting on an answer. But something has changed inside of you.
You have made room for peace.
That is when people can look at you and wonder, How are you going through all of that and still so calm? How did you survive that? How do you still have joy?
And sometimes, you won’t even be able to explain it.
That’s the point.
It is the peace of God which passeth all understanding.
We want peace in chaos, but sometimes we make no room for it in our minds and hearts. We fill every available space with the problem. We think about what happened, what might happen, what somebody said, what we should have said, what we need to do next, and every possible outcome. Then we wonder why we cannot experience peace.
Whatever your storm is—whether it feels like a passing rain shower or a full-blown hurricane—I encourage you to go to your secret place and release it to God. Give Him room to move. Allow Him back into the places in your heart and mind that have been consumed by worry.
And once you have given it to Him, resist the urge to immediately fill that space with more talking, asking, worrying, and begging. You’ve prayed about it. You’ve brought your request before Him. You’ve surrendered it.
Now listen.
Open His Word. Meditate on it. Spend time building your relationship with Him. Allow God to speak to the places that chaos once occupied.
Maybe the peace you have been asking God for isn’t as far away as you thought. Maybe you have been asking Him to pour peace into places that are already overflowing with worry.
You asked God for peace. Now make room to receive it.
I pray that whatever storm you are facing today, you allow God the opportunity to fill your heart and mind with a peace that does not make sense according to your circumstances—a peace that can only come through Christ Jesus.