2 Corinthians 11:23-33 | Philippians 4:4-7 (Click here to read)
Philippians 4:6-7
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.
It was a snowy, slushy Friday afternoon in January 2015 as I made my way home from work along a twisted back road. I was driving my 2000 Toyota Corolla that reeked from the gas it was leaking, a repair I couldn’t afford at the time. I was thinking about the flourless pancakes I was going to make for dinner when all of a sudden my car started to swerve. My efforts to get the vehicle under control only made matters worse. My heart pounded and I was afraid of going off the road.
According to clinical psychologist Melanie Greenberg, “About 85 percent of the things people worry about never happen.” [a] As someone who struggles with worry, I appreciate this statistic, but on this Friday afternoon, I didn’t regain control of the car. Before I knew it, the danger I worried about was set in motion: I was headed straight for the ditch.
One would think that when I realized the car was going down into the ditch, my panic would increase. However, when the realization set in, the strangest thing happened simultaneously. I had this incredible sense of peace wash over me. I knew God was with me in that car. Then the car started to flip over and I remember calmly thinking, “I guess I‘m going upside down now.”
It was a great reminder of Philippians 4:4-7. Paul talks about “[rejoicing] in the Lord always” and having “the peace of God that transcends all understanding.” It’s remarkable to note that he wrote those words while sitting in a prison! A glance at 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 tells us that his time in prison was the tip of the iceberg of everything he faced in his ministry. Many times his whole life was flipped upside down and yet there he was, writing about God’s peace.
We never know what highs and lows a day will bring when we wake up, but we don’t need to spend our nights worrying about what awaits when the sun rises. If our world flips upside down, we can rest assured that God will be with us. As we bring our cares to God in prayer and spend time in His presence, He can give us peace when all accounts say that we shouldn’t have even an ounce of it.
Thank You, God, for Your peace “that transcends all understanding”!